Never Knew I Needed
by pandacare
Summary: A young woman fresh out of law school, Irene Frey comes to replace Connie Rubirosa as new ADA. Cyrus is immediately attracted to her and tries anything to woo her but she's more focused on her career. PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Are you sure about this woman?" Mike asked Jack. Both of them were sitting in Jack's office awaiting the arrival of the new assistant district attorney since Connie Rubirosa had to go on maternity leave.

"I am very confident about her. She is well-organized, detail-oriented and would bring something new to this office. After recently reading her article concerning public policy affecting education and race in the Albany law journal, her writing is excellent," Jack replied.

"Have you looked at her resume, Jack? She just passed the bar exam and graduated from law school," Mike pointed out as he looked through candidate's resume.

"It also says she interned for the Department of Justice in DC and even a woman's law firm while abroad in China. She also has extensive leadership skills through being President of her community service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with high honors in political science. This shows she is extremely bright and intelligent."

"Ok she is academically well-rounded. But she's not even a New York state resident. She's from California way on the other side of the country. They have different laws there not to mention, it's pretty much like a foreign country there. Why didn't she apply for a job in Sacramento?"

"Did you look at her law school credential? She graduated from the University of Albany so she is very knowledgeable and extremely familiar with New York law." Jack sat down next to Mike facing him. "I know she can never replace Connie but be open minded to her tactics and get to know her. It is hard to adjust to the change but you'll get used to it. I've had to work with six assistant DAs during my time." Mike sighed and decided to take Jack's advice. Soon a door knocked.

"Come in," Jack answered.

"Sir, the new ADA is here to meet you," Denise, Jack's secretary, informed.

"Bring her in." Denise then headed out of the office and in came a young woman carrying a shoulder briefcase and wearing a short-sleeved black dress. Her dark brown hair was tied up in a pony tail and a pair of eye-glasses perched on her nose.

"Hi I am Irene Frey, the new ADA."

"More like an intern to me," Mike thought looking at her skeptically.

"Hello I am Jack McCoy, DA and this is Michael Cutter, the Executive DA. You and him will be working mostly together in cases brought by the NYPD." He shook her hand.

"Please to meet you," she replied and then offered her hand to Mike. Mike hesitated before shaking her hand but didn't say anything.

"He'll be showing you how the procedures work around here such as how cases are formatted and organization of witnesses and evidences. While mostly working with Mike, you will be in charge of issuing warrants and working with the NYPD and reporting on their findings," Jack explained.

"Ok," Irene nodded.

"Now, Mike will show you to your office." Mike gave Jack a look as if saying 'Do I have to?' Jack nodded and smiled in response.

"Right this way," Mike sighed leading Irene out of Jack's office. He showed her to the small office room close to his. Irene began taking out stuff from the box she brought and arranging it on her desk.

"So you're originally from California," Mike said deciding to strike a conversation.

"Yup. Born and raised," Irene answered.

"What made you move to NY? Sunny weather wasn't enough for you?" Irene laughed.

"I just wanted a change of environment. There were more job and education opportunities here," Irene answered.

"I see."

"So do we have a case so far?" Irene asked.

"The police were called last night about a shooting in Central Park. An old couple was murdered while taking an evening stroll. They're currently interviewing those related to the couple and people who were at the park last night," Mike explained.

"Do they have any suspects yet?"

"Not yet. When they do, they're going to ask you for a search warrant."

"I know." Once Irene settled in her office, Mike showed her around.

Detectives Cyrus Lupo and Kevin Bernard were waiting outside the DA office to meet the new ADA.

"Have you heard anything about this new ADA?" Lupo asked Bernard.

"Not much. Only Cutter said she's really young and just past the bar exam."

"Hmm I never would expect Jack to hire someone at such an entry level."

"He is a man of surprises."

Once Irene walked out with her clipboard and briefcase, she and Lupo immediately locked eyes. Cyrus couldn't help but notice her natural beauty. She was not drop dead gorgeous but there was something about her that attracted him to her. Even though she was wearing glasses, his detective skills allowed him to see she had wonderful dark chocolate brown eyes and long eye lashes. Cyrus curiously looked at her left hand and saw no ring on her finger meaning she was single. When she smiled, it seemed to light up the whole room.

"Hi I'm Irene Frey, the new ADA," she introduced herself.

"I'm detective Cyrus Lupo," Cyrus immediately introduced himself. "This is my partner, detective Kevin Bernard." When he shook her hand, Cyrus felt a lightning jolt through his body. He beamed at her in response. Irene stared at him weirdly.

"Nice to meet both of you," she answered. "So what do we have?"

"Well an elderly couple, Jim and Carol Applebottom was murdered and we believe it was their son, Kevin."

"Oh. What seems to be the motive?"

"It seems that he demanded money from them. He was primarily denied his inheritance due to a gambling debt and he almost lost three-quarters of his father's business. Witnesses said they saw him following them into Central Park." Irene carefully looked at the details in the paperwork.

"The evidence seems to be legitimate. I'll have the judge sign it and approved." She gathered up the files.

"It's nice meeting you and welcome to the team," Lupo said looking at her.

"Thank you detective Lupo," Irene smiled.

"Please call me Cyrus," he insisted.

"Ok Cyrus," she said before walking out.

"Call me Cyrus?" Bernard looked at Lupo questioningly.

"What? I just want to make her feel comfortable working with us."

"Or more specifically working with you."

Once the judge issued the warrant, the police began searching Kevin's apartment. They soon found a gun beneath a pile of clothes. Lupo and Bernard soon confiscated the gun and handed to CSU. They also took his laptop, files, and bills. They soon began analyzing all the evidence and discovered the bullets that were shot inside the elderly couple's bodies matched Kevin's gun. Later, the judge gave them permission to arrest Kevin and stand trial.

"Document 1231, the People vs. Kevin Applebottom, murder in the first degree."

"How does the defendant plea?" the judge asked.

"Not guilty, your honor," Kevin answered.

"The People request remand, your honor. The defendant has no ties to the community and has a history of a gambling debt. He is also known to exploit the victim's business and financial accounts. The fun was found in the suspect's home matching the bullet in the victims' bodies," Irene argued.

"Your honor, this is all coincidental. The evidence could be planted," the defense lawyer argued.

"If it is coincidental and supposedly black-mailed, is it also coincidental that witnesses saw the suspect having a heated argument in a restaurant with the victims and following them minutes later?" Irene argued.

"It could be an act of self-defense," the defense lawyer retorted.

"An act of self-defense against an old couple?" Irene asked incredulously.

"Alright I've heard enough. All evidence is in. Bail is set at $5 million". Irene gave a sigh of relief knowing that the preliminary hearing went through in favor of the people. She gathered her documents and headed out the door.

"Ms. Frey!" a voice called out.

"Detective Lu..Cyrus," Irene responded surprised to see him wondering if it was normal for detectives to come to the preliminary hearing.

"Great job today. Your argument really hit the nail," he complimented with a smile. "I mean for your first time in a courtroom."

"Thank you Cyrus," Irene said looking at him weirdly. "Where's detective Bernard?"

"Oh he's back at the precinct. I just came to support you," he explained.

"Oh um thanks," she said feeling more surprised. Irene soon saw a court officer walking towards her with a blue envelope.

"Ms. Frey, this is for you," the officer handed her the blue envelope. She opened the blue envelope.

"Motion to suppress because of reasons of mental of defect and neglect of parents," Irene read. "Looks like I have to go back to the office and dig up some more evidence." She closed the envelope and put it in her bag.

"Do you need my help with anything?" Cyrus asked.

"Um not at the moment. When I do, I will call you and Bernard," Irene answered wondering why he was making her feel so nervous. "It was nice seeing you again."She turned around and walked out of the courtroom with Cyrus closely watching her.

Back in the office, Mike and Irene were going over the files.

"I've requested that Dr. Emil Skoda to examine our suspect," Irene said breaking the silence.

"Hmm-hmmm," was all Mike said.

"And I will talk to a few of his colleagues and college professors and maybe even high school teachers and past girlfriends."

"Ok," still not making eye contact with her. "But I think I should handle all of that since it's your first time doing a major case. You can just do the paperwork for now."

"Why not I get you some coffee?" Irene said sarcastically frustrated with Mike's attitude towards her.

"What?" Mike said finally looking up.

"Look Mike, I want to win this case as much as you do. I may be young and inexperienced but I do have the determination and will. I also want to let you know that I will work hard as much as I worked hard getting this job. Jack may have known some of my law professors but I was the one who applied for the job and did the interview and proved myself to Jack McCoy. I am not a person who simply gives up on something when it gets tough.

Mike sat there speechless. 'Maybe Jack did see something in her,' he thought. Then he smiled admiring her courage.

"Ok then. Why not I get the coffee and you plan out our entire trial procedure?"

.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was pouring rain outside as Irene walked out of the office. But she did not seem to mind because the first day of the trial ended in favor of the DA's. She was especially happy for both Mike and Jack's compliments after the trial was over especially about the details she presented. She took out her umbrella and was walking a few steps in the rain until a car stopped by along the curve. Irene wondered who it could be. When the window pulled down, Irene saw it was Cyrus Lupo.

"Hello there Irene," Cyrus greeted.

"Hello Cyrus. We meet again," she said wondering if he just happened to be driving by and saw her.

"Yes we have been running into each other quite a bit," Cyrus smiled. "I heard that case went well."

"Yes it did," Irene answered.

"That's great. Do you need a ride home?" Cyrus asked. "It would be much easier than getting your feet wet."

"Well if it's not the out of your way," Irene said hesitantly.

"Where do you live?"

"On 21 and State Street."

"Perfect. It's on the way to my apartment. Come on in," he invited. Irene then went into the car and closed the door beside her. Cyrus then drove off. A moment of silence fell in the car. Irene kind of felt strange sitting in Cyrus's car. She wondered if it was normal for him to give rides to female co-workers. Was he just doing it to be friendly or did he have other intentions? "So what's going to happen tomorrow?" Cyrus asked interrupting her thoughts.

"Well the defense is going to pull up some witnesses. Mike and I have researched their ties to the suspect and will be asking them base on that."

"I see," Cyrus said clearly interested. "And will the defense be pulling the suspect tomorrow?"

"Yes and we've devised some questions to confront the suspect such as his relations to the victims and his past history. Hopefully hell, confess to something."

"Unless the defense decides to object."

"But we will have reasons for it to be overruled."

"Or you could recall the suspect during the rebuttal," Cyrus suggested.

"Yes we could," Irene said looking at him wondering how he knows this stuff.

"I am actually taking some night law classes," Cyrus smiled as if reading her mind.

"Oh so you're after Mike's job?" Irene joked.

"Actually no. I'm more interested in family law."

"Why family law?" Irene asked curiously.

"Because I believe in strong family values and structure in stabilizing our society," Cyrus answered.

"Do you hope to have a family of your own?" Irene asked.

"Of course with a big backyard and a white picket fence and a dog." Irene laughed. "What so funny?"

"Not many men dream of that. It's mostly women."

"Then I am one of the few men. Do you hope to have that too in your future?"

"Well my parents did try to influence me to find someone to support me and get married and give them some grand kids. But I had to delay their wishes because I was very focused on law school and obtaining my career despite many matchmakers. I wanted to pursue my career and see what opportunities were out there for me. I don't want to settle down just yet. If I do get married, I want to adopt children."

"Why adopt?" Cyrus asked curiously.

"Because I feel the human population is already increasing rapidly and I think it's more meaningful to give a better opportunity to an orphaned child who is already living and deserving of that greater life."

"Wow that's amazing," he said in awe staring at her. He just sat there touched by her words and goals. Fortunately it was still a red light otherwise the car behind them would horn angrily.

"Thank you," Irene said feeling her face turning red. She soon wondered why she was telling Cyrus all of this. They soon reached her apartment much to Irene's relief.

"Well thanks for the ride," she said getting out of the car. "See you again soon."

"Yeah see you soon," he said watching her hurry towards her apartment and trying to avoid getting wet.

A few days later, after both sides presented their cases, the jury soon reached a decision.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" the Judge asked.

"We have your honor," Juror #1 answered.

"On the count of murder in the first degree, how do you find?"

"We find the defendant guilty."

Irene just sat there in both excitement and shock. She could not believe her very first actual case was a success.

"Good job," Mike smiled looking at her.

"Thanks you too," she smiled back. She then watched looked over to the defendant who was clearly distraught though he tried to hold his disappointment inside as he was taken away by the court sergeant to incarceration.

Later Irene was checking email where she saw Mike popping his head in.

"Hey I am going out to drinks with Lupo and Bernard if you want to join us," he said.

Irene thought she felt her heart skipped a beat when she heard Cyrus's name.

"Um no thank you. I am not much of a drinker," she said looking up from her laptop.

"Oh ok," Mike said a bit surprised. "Well I'll see you tomorrow." He then closed the door and walked out of the office. He soon met up with Lupo and Bernard at the bar. "Hello gentlemen."

"Hi Mike," Bernard greeted. "Glad you could join us."

"Where's Irene?" Cyrus asked wanting to know why Mike came alone.

"She said she was not much of a drinker," Mike responded.

"Oh," was all Cyrus could say.

"You seem disappointed detective that Ms. Frey did not show up," Mike observed.

"Well I was hoping she'd come to celebrate her first court victory," Cyrus said. "with us."

"Oh really?" Both Mike and Kevin said in curious and amused unison.

"She's worked really hard on this case and she completely deserves this recognition," Cyrus reasoned but both Kevin and Mike knew the real reason why he wanted her to be there.

"I am sure she celebrates in her own way," Mike said. Later after drinks, Cyrus dropped Kevin off at his home. He was on his way back to his place when he saw a flower shop along the street. He decided to pull over and parked his car. Cyrus got out and entered the florist shop. He examined the several varieties of flowers and flower arrangements.

"Can I help you?" the store clerk asked.

"Yes I would like that bouquet," Cyrus said pointing to the arrangement of red and pink roses. The store clerk nodded and took the bouquet and wrapped it around with colored tissue paper. "And you do personal delivery?"

"Yes we do," the florist answered as matter of fact.

"Could you send these to this address?"

"Certainly. I'll make sure your flowers will be sent out today."

Irene was eating take out and watching TV when she heard the doorbell ring. She got up and answered the door and was surprised to see a delivery person with flowers.

"Special delivery for Irene Frey," the delivery person announced.

"Oh thank you," she exclaimed admiring the flowers as they were handed to her. Irene then signed the delivery confirmation before heading back inside. Irene found a vase to put the flowers in. She decided to place the vase on the coffee table. Since there was no card, Irene began to wonder who went them.

'Could he be a certain detective?'

The next day Irene decided to take jog through Central Park since it was Saturday. After running for 20 minutes, she decided to take a break and sit down on a bench. Soon she saw a big white dog barking and running towards her. At first, she was afraid the dog would bite her. Instead, the dog turned out be extremely playful and he pounced on her and licked her hands.

"Oh hello there. Where did you come from?" she said amused petting the dog on the head because she loved animals.

"So we meet again," said a voice. Irene's eyes widened as she looked up to see Cyrus standing there and was holding the leash of the white dog.

"Yes we always seem to be running into each other," she observed with a smile.

"We have," Cyrus smiled. "I see you are going on a jog."

"Yes I am."

"We missed you last night at the bar," Cyrus commented.

"Well I am not much of a drinker," Irene answered. "But I had a nice relaxing yet interesting night at home."

"Oh did you?"

"Yes. I received the most beautiful bouquet of red and pink roses," she said looking at Cyrus wondering if he had anything to do with it.

"Oh who were they from?" Cyrus asked acting as if he didn't know.

"I don't know because it had no card."

"Then you must have a secret admirer."

"Yeah it sure is a mystery alright. I was thinking of going to the crime lab and looking for matching finger prints and find out who it is since I have that access and I can trace it back to a particular flower shop and find out the purchaser from last night."

"Oh yeah," Cyrus said trying to hide his nervousness. He wasn't sure if he should reveal himself.

"Although I have narrowed down the list since not many people know my address. I think I have a good idea who he is." Cyrus sat down next to her.

"Who is it?" He asked curiously.

"I think it's one of the law clerks in the office. He's been giving me t he looks and always gets nervous when he talks to me."

"Oh," Cyrus said trying to hide his disappointment.

"I think I'll try to talk to him more often at work," Irene said waiting to see Cyrus's reaction.

"Yeah you should," he said looking down at Toby and petting his head. Irene wondered why he wouldn't reveal himself.

"Or it is possible that the sender is not him," Irene offered. Cyrus immediately looked up at her.

"Yeah it could be someone you least expect," he suggested.

'Or someone I most expect,' Irene thought. She then got up. "Well I better head home. A friend from Albany is visiting me. Bye Cyrus."

"Bye," he said watching her run off. "What is it about her, Toby that attracts me to her?"

Toby just barked in response. Cyrus just laughed and rubbed his forehead.

Irene was organizing some files in her office when Denise walked in with another bouquet of roses.

"Someone sent you these," Denise said handing her the flowers.

"Oh how lovely," Irene said taking and smelling the roses.

"I'll get you a vase," Denise said exiting Irene's office. Irene soon saw a card. It read 'I am no law clerk but I work the New York streets to make sure our citizens are safe. I hope to bring more justice in the world.' There was no name on the card.

"So who sent them to you?" Denise asked walking in and setting the vase on Irene's desk.

"I don't know. It seems I have a secret admirer," Irene answered putting the flowers in the vase.

"The sender must be someone you know really well," Denise commented.

"And someone who knows me really well."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Thank you for the reviews. They were really helpful especially when incorporating them into the story. Please keep them coming! I really appreciate it!

Chapter 3

At the precinct, Cyrus was busy reading his law textbook closely.

"Hey how's that studying going?" Kevin said walking in with two cups of coffee.

"Ok I guess. It's just a lot of information to digest," Cyrus sighed.

"Maybe you should ask the new ADA for help," Kevin joked. Cyrus's ears perked up when he heard her association.

"You know what? That wouldn't be a bad idea," Cyrus smiled. He then picked up the phone and dialed her number.

"Hello?" Irene answered.

"Hi Irene, this is Cyrus. How are you?"

"Oh hi Cyrus. I'm fine. How are you?"

"Fine. Thank you."

"What's up? You and Bernard need a warrant for anything?"

"No not quite yet. I was wondering if you are available tonight."

"Well I'm not doing anything so it's pretty free. Why?"

"I have this midterm for one of my law classes and I was wondering if you could help me." There was a pause. Cyrus's hopes began to sink when she didn't answer immediately. Maybe he was moving too fast.

"Yes. I would be happy to help you," Irene answered. When he finally heard her reply, Cyrus tried to remain calm but was jumping for joy inside.

"Great! How about 7 at my place?" Irene thought for a moment before answering.

"Sounds good to me," she replied.

"I'll see you at 7 then," Cyrus said before giving her, his address and hanging up.

"So is this a date or a study session?" Bernard asked amused.

"Very funny Bernard. It's a study session."

However, later that night, Cyrus was pretty much a nervous wreck. He was cleaning up his apartment at the same time, he was cooking dinner. Fortunately, he had taken Toby for a walk long enough for the dog to be worn out and fall asleep so he wouldn't be in the way. While cooking and cleaning, Cyrus was trying to get himself ready as if he was trying to impress someone. He finally got the living room cleaned when he noticed it was 5 minutes to 7.

"Great, she's going to be here any minute," he mumbled. He managed to find a clean shirt with matching pants than hurried to get dinner ready. When he finished putting the food on the table, he heard the doorbell ring.

"Right on time," Cyrus sighed in relief. He checked himself in the mirror before answering the door. He was caught by surprise to see Irene with her hair down wearing a turtle neck blouse and jeans unlike her usual business outfit. Even though her outfit looked simple, she was still beautiful in Cyrus's eyes. "Hi," he greeted.

"Hi," she replied back with a smile. They stared at each other for a while until Irene said "May I come in?"

"Sure," he said showing her in.

"Nice place," Irene commented observing his living room. "Very clean."

"Thank you," Cyrus said glad she liked his living arrangements.

"Where are your law books?" Irene asked looking at the empty coffee tale.

"Oh I'll bring them out later after we have dinner," Cyrus answered.

"Dinner?" Irene questioned staring at him curiously.

"I made dinner for the both of us in case we got hungry," Cyrus explained.

"Oh you cooked?" Irene asked surprised but quite impressed.

"Yes I did," Cyrus said with a smile who could see he had made a favorable intuition on her. "Did you think I was some take out guy?"

"Well with law school night classes and your job at the NYPD office, I thought you would not have time to cook," Irene answered.

"That's true but I try to cook when I can."

"Guess I consider myself lucky," Irene smiled.

"Yes."

"Since you just cooked, let's eat first. I'm starving, I barely eaten all day. All I had was 2 bagels and a banana."

"Ok," Cyrus smiled. He then placed the food on the table from the kitchen and they started eating and making small talk. Cyrus told her about his time overseas. Irene talked about her time in Albany, her family, and her decision to stay on the east coast rather than moves back to California. Cyrus talked about his brother and how his death brought him back to the states. From their conversation, Irene could see he was a good man of dignity and morals. Once they finished eating, Cyrus brought out his law books and opened them up while Irene washed the dishes. She then sat down on the couch next to him. They began reviewing various court cases and law/governmental terms. Irene also asked Cyrus potential questions that would be on the test. The study session definitely brought Irene back to those late nights in college where she would pull all-nighters with her friends.

Both of them were very focused that they barely noticed the time. After much studying they decided to take a break. Cyrus got up to use the bathroom. When he came back, Irene had fallen asleep on the couch. He smiled at the sight of her for she looked very peaceful. Cyrus looked at the clock and realized it was 2 in the morning. He then put a blanket over her and turned off the light and went to bed himself.

The next morning, Irene woke up to see she was clearly not in her own bed, much less her own apartment. Instead, she was on someone else's couch. Irene then remembered Cyrus had invited her over to help him study for his exam. She then assumed they stayed up all night and she fell asleep on his couch. Irene then got up and folded the blanket.

"Good morning," Cyrus greeted coming out of his room. Irene turned around to see him standing there

"Good morning," she greeted. Irene thought it was strange to see him in just a t-shirt and shorts.

"Would you like some breakfast?" he asked with a smile.

"Sure," she said still trying to sink in this whole situation.

"We were studying till the wee hours of the night and you fell asleep on the couch when I went to the bathroom. So I covered you with a blanket. I didn't want to wake you and have you travel back to your apartment this late at night and in your tired state," Cyrus explained noticing her confused face.

"Oh," she said relieved with his explanation. Cyrus gave her a cup of coffee. "Thank you." She took a sip. "Oh my gosh! Is that the time?" Irene exclaimed looking at Cyrus's clock on the wall.

"Yes it's 9:30," Cyrus answered. "What's wrong?"

"I'm supposed to be at a meeting with Mike and Jack in an hour in the office," Irene panicked. "I should go!" She put the cup down and was about to head out the door when Cyrus grabbed her hand.

'Here, I can give you a ride., It's the least I can do for you helping me last night," Cyrus offered. Irene could see the genuineness in his eyes showing he really meant it.

"Ok," Irene said giving him a small smile. Cyrus quickly got dressed and they rushed to his car. Miraculously there was no traffic on the way. They arrived at Irene's apartment. Cyrus waited in his car while Irene ran in and changed. Irene ran back out 15 minutes later and Cyrus sped his way to the District Attorney's office. To Irene's relief, they arrived 5 minutes before the meeting. "Thank you!" Irene said quickly getting out of the car.

"No problem," Cyrus called out. Irene walked quickly inside not knowing Michael Cutter had walked in right behind her and saw her coming out of Cyrus's car. She was making her way to the conference room when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Hello Ms. Frey." She spun around to see Mike was standing behind her.

"Oh good morning Mike," Irene greeted.

"Good morning. I see detective Lupo was nice enough to give you a ride to work this morning,

"Yes he did," Irene answered. "It was his way of thanking me."

"For what?" Mike asked.

"For helping him study for his exam last night," Irene explained.

"Oh," was all Mike could say. He was going to inquire some more wondering if this study session led to something more but Jack soon walked in.

"Ah good both of you are right on time," Jack smiled. "Shall we?"

Both Mike and Irene nodded and headed into the conference room.

After the meeting was over, Irene went to her office leaving Mike and Jack in the conference room. "She seems to know her way around here," Jack observed. "Still shy but she definitely works hard."

"I don't know Jack," Mike sighed.

"Still doubting her tactics?"

"No but I do doubt her mixing her professional life and personal life."

"Why?"

"This morning, I saw detective Lupo giving her a ride," Mike said.

"Oh how generous of him. Maybe she was running late and Lupo may have been on his way," Jack suggested.

"Actually she was spending the night at his place," Mike answered as a matter of a fact.

"Were they on a date?"

"Not exactly. Irene said she was helping Lupo study for his exam," Mike replied.

"Oh well she just graduated and passed the bar and he is taking night classes at law school. It seems fitting," Jack reasoned.

"Yes but Jack, she's still young and vulnerable. What if they get involved in a relationship and it will end in bad note?"

"You are jumping to conclusions."

"Jack, when you were going through the final rounds of the employment process, why didn't you at least consult me? Or take any of my suggestions like that one lawyer from Advocacy? What made Irene stand out? You could have asked me to interview her since she'll be working with me."

Jack adjusted his chair.

"Actually I was going to ask you but Connie was in labor and I, as an experienced father, knew you wanted to be there for the birth of your child. I also was on a tight schedule since the governor was up for re-election so I had no choice but to do the interviews myself. I did have the consult and assistance of Alexandra Cabot and she supported my decision in hiring Irene."

"I thought she now works for the UN."

"She is. But Cabot happened to be in New York for a week and she was more than willing to help," Jack said. "Now let me ask you a question. If you interviewed Irene, would you have hired her?"

"Depends on how she presents herself," Mike answered.

"Ok. If you knew about her future actions, would still have hired her," Jack asked. Mike thought for a moment.

"Yes I would." Jack smiled.

"I'm sure you'll soon see that I made the right decision as you work through more cases."


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Sorry it took a while for me to update. I just started grad school which has been taking up most of my time. But since I'm now on Christmas break, I'll be updating as often as I can.

Chapter 4

Irene popped her head into Mike's office.

"Um the police has a suspect in custody for a murder that happened 2 days ago," Irene reported.

"Yes and?"

"They would like to have me observe their interrogation and possibly grant a search warrant."

"Oh well actually," Mike said standing up. "I will handle that and you can interview people close to the suspect."

"Oh okay," Irene said surprised because she thought it was unusual for Mike to handle those procedures. She wondered if it had anything to do with last night's events.

Meanwhile at the precinct, Lupo was about to join Bernard and question when he saw Mike walk in.

"Oh hello Mike."

"Hello Lupo. I came to observe your interrogation with the suspect."

"Oh," Cyrus said wondering why he came instead because it was usually the ADA that comes in and observes the interrogation. Specifically Cyrus was expecting Irene to show up instead of Mike.

"You surprised to see me?" Mike asked.

"Well I was expecting Ms. Frey since she is usually assigned to hand out warrants and observe interrogations."

"Yes but today I told her to interview those close to the suspect. That way, we can have all our evidence gathered," Mike explained.

"I see," Cyrus said trying to hide his disappointment. They then approached the interrogation room.

After finishing interviewing those close to the suspect, Irene was on her way back to the DA's office via taxi when she heard someone call here name.

"Irene!" She turned around and immediately recognized the face.

"Oh hi Jon. What a pleasant surprise running into you," Irene said as a tall man walked towards her. She and Jon had been old college friends.

"All the same with you," Jon said giving her hug.

"So what are you doing here, Jon? I thought you moved back to Boston."

"I did. My company transferred me here to head their New York office."

"Oh wow. I guess we'll be running into each other more often."

'Yes we will," Jon smiled. "So what are you doing now?"

"I work at the district attorney's office in Manhattan," Irene replied.

"Very impressive. You always strived yourself to work at the top level," Jon said. "how do you like it so far?"

"The job is great so far I'm learning a lot. The hours are tiring but I don't really mind."

"Well that's the sacrifice of lawyers. Do you want to get some coffee?" Jon asked.

"I'd love to but I have to head back to the office. I am free tomorrow though."

"Ok. I don't get off work till after. How about dinner?" Irene thought for a moment.

"Sounds good to me." They exchanged numbers and email before going their separate ways.

The next day, during the preliminary hearing, Cyrus had decided to sit in and wait outside the courthouse. Not because he wanted to hear the results, but because he wanted to talk to Irene. They haven't spoken since that morning he dropped her off. He soon saw her exiting the courthouse with a clearly disappointed face.

"Hi Irene," Cyrus greeted going up to her.

"Oh hi Cyrus," Irene said facing him.

"How did the trial go?" he asked casually.

"Not so well," Irene sighed. "While the judge has accepted all evidence, she has decided to not allow our key witness take the stand."

"Wow. That's tough."

"Yeah. I guess Mike and I have our work cut out for us."

"Well I have some good news," he said with a grin.

"You do?"

"I aced my midterm exam," Cyrus proudly announced.

"Oh Cyrus. That's amazing," she said giving him a surprise hug which sent Cyrus flying on the inside.

"I owe it all t o your help," he said once they pulled away.

"I think you would have pulled it off without my help," Irene smiled.

"Not acing it that's for sure. I was thinking w could go out tonight to celebrate," he offered.

"Actually…I can't tonight. I'm already going to dinner with a friend," she answered.

"I see," Cyrus said who couldn't help but feel his excitement dwindling.

"I have to run so I'll see you around," Irene said putting some documents in her briefcase. "But by the way, thank you so much for the roses. That was very thoughtful of you," she gave him a wink before heading off.

Later that evening, Irene made her way to the restaurant where she planned to meet Jon. She was about to approach the host but spotted Jon waving at her. Irene smiled and walked towards his table.

"Well hello there," Jon greeted as Irene sat down on the opposite side of the table.

"Hi. How was your day?"

"My day was great. I managed to cut a major deal on a valuable piece of property."

"That sounds like a wonderful accomplishment," Irene smiled.

"And how was yours?"

"Not as fabulous as your day. The judge dismissed all our key witnesses," Irene said.

"That sucks. Are you going to try to find other witnesses?"

"Yeah but we are pressed for time. Hopefully we can bring in someone for rebuttal."

They decided then not to discuss anything work-related and instead talked about their days at college. Well into dinner, Irene's phone rang and the caller id said "Mike". "Excuse me for a moment," Irene said getting up and answering her phone out in the front of the restaurant.

"Hi Mike, what's up?"

"Hello Irene. It appears we may have a break in the case. Another coworker close to the suspect has brought forward evidence on why the suspect murdered his coworker."

"That's incredible."

"I know. I thought for a moment our case was going to take a down-turn."

"Yeah me too."

"Well I am hoping we can work on it tonight so we don't waste time."

"Oh um sure. I'll be at the office in 20 minutes."

"See you then." They hung up and Irene walked back to Jon.

"I'm sorry but we have to end this dinner early. It seems we have found something may save our case. Mike needs me at the office.

"I see," Jon said feeling dismayed. "I can drive you to the office."

"Could you? That would be great." Jon paid the bill before heading out.

Lupo and Bernard had just parked the car in front of the DA's office. Mike had requested their assistance with the new witness. They soon saw another car pull up in front of them when they got out. Cyrus soon spotted Irene exiting the vehicle accompanied by another man. Her date, Cyrus assumed. He soon felt a pang of jealously at the sight of them. Cyrus even cringed when Irene kissed the man's cheek as they said goodbye. As they were heading towards the office, Cyrus began to size up his arch-rival. He was tall and clearly well-cleaned up. By the way he was dressed, he must have a high-paying job.

"Hello Cyrus, Kevin," Irene said surprised to see them as she was about to enter the building. "What are you doing here?"

"Mike asked us for help and explanation of the new witness," Kevin answered.

"Oh ok great."

"Here after you," Cyrus said opening the door for her.

"Thank you," she smiled before walking in. What Cyrus didn't know was her date was watching his every move.

They made their way to the conference room to see Mike, Jack and a woman sitting in a chair.

"This is Reya Kim," Mike introduced. "She is a former employee of our suspect, Sean Rodstein. She has decided to come forward." Irene could tell Reya felt shaken.

"How did you find out about his trial?" Irene asked gently.

"I saw him on TV and his lawyer seemed confident that Sean will surely be found not guilty. I wanted to bring him to justice after what he did to me."

"Why did you decide to come forward now?"

"Before when he put me in an abusive relationship, he threatened to kill me if I told anyone. But I'm ready to testify because I have moved on," she said.

Moved by the latest victims' words, Irene then got back into her lawyer-mode.

"Well we are going to make sure that the bastard will never hurt you again," Irene assured her. "We'll have our detectives take you home and an officer will watch your house overnight." She looked over at Lupo and Bernard who nodded in agreement.

"That's great! You don't know how grateful I am. How should I ever repay you?"

"You testifying is all we need," Irene smiled. Once everything was settled, Lupo and Bernard escorted the witness out and Irene followed behind. When they got out, she found Jon waiting for her, much to Irene's surprise.

"You didn't have to wait for me," she said.

"Well I figured you needed a ride home," Jon smiled.

"Why thank you," she said looking at him as he opened the door for her. Without her knowledge, Cyrus watched in jealousy and despair.

"So do you work very closely with the police detectives?" Jon asked curiously.

"Yes they are our main investigators," Irene answered.

"I see. Do you hang out together after work?"

"Occasionally," Irene said knowing where he was getting at. "That what colleagues do after a stressful day at work."

Although he was not convinced, Jon decided to end his questioning.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Here is another chapter. Please Review!

Chapter 5

Early morning, before trial, Mike and Irene were going over their prosecution procedure.

"I think you should question our witness," Mike said.

"Me?" Irene said dumbfounded.

"Yes. I think you're ready," Mike said with a smile.

"Are you telling me to question the witness because she's a woman?" Irene asked skeptically.

"No because you'll be handling the entire trial including the rebuttal and defense."

Irene sat there digesting the whole thing. Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cyrus walking in and taking a seat. Irene, then, felt secured and convinced that she can prosecute this case. "If you feel you are not ready, I'm fine prosecuting this trial," Mike said.

"No. I can take the lead on this case," Irene answered confidently. Mike nodded and smiled in response.

"All rise for the honorable Judge Hudgens," and the trial began. Irene took a deep breath and told herself, this is the moment you have been waiting for. She started calling the Medical Examiner and the detectives. So far, the defense had been easy on the evidence but Irene knew the opposition lawyer will be a hard force on the witness. After Detective Bernard finished answering questions, the court judge then decided to take an hour recess for lunch. Irene felt quite relieved at the judge's decision for she needed to clear her head before questioning the witness. She then made her way outside for some realizing how stuffy the courtroom was. She headed towards the nearest food-stand and grabbed a cup of coffee.

"You seem to carry yourself well so far," said a voice. Irene turned around after taking a sip of coffee to see Jack McCoy standing there.

"I suppose this was your idea," Irene responded.

"Actually it was Mike's. I was hesitant at first but he insisted that he was going to let you take the lead to prosecuting this case."

"Really?" Irene looked over to Mike who was busy talking to someone on his blackberry.

"And he clearly made the right decision. Good luck with the witness," Jack said before heading back to the courtroom.

"The People call Reya Kim to the stand." Irene then watched Reya slowly make her way to the stand. She could tell Reya was nervous despite keeping a confident face. Once sworn under oath, Irene began questioning.

"Tell the court, how you know the defendant?"

"We were co-workers in his company," Reya answered.

"And did this relationship become more serious after that?" Irene asked.

"Yes for 8 months."

"And how did he treat you primarily?"

"At first, he was sweet and romantic, then he changed."

"What made him change?"

"The company gave me a promotion to a position he had been vying for. Even though he did congratulate me, I could tell he was jealous. Since then, he would start harassing me secretly. It soon grew to abuse and he had some sort of power over me that I left the company and moved away."

"Why didn't you report it to the police? Or your company?"

"Sean said if I did, he would kill me. He also told me the company wouldn't believe me because of his reputation."

"Why do you choose to come forward now?"

"I saw him on TV and talking about the charges made by the victims. I know he did it because what he did to me."

Irene could not help but feel sympathetic towards Reya and disgust towards Sean. However, Irene's confidence started to ameliorate. The prosecution procedure soon came easy to her. This was especially helpful when the defense cross-examined the witness with several accusatory questions.

As Mike sat there during the entire trial, he could not help but be impressed by Irene's performance. He did not realize she had so much energy and determination inside her. Mike knew he and Jack made the right choice. He then looked behind to see Jack give a confirmation smile.

"You were great in there," Mike said to Irene once they were out of the court room.

"Thank you. It means a lot to me being my first trial," Irene smiled.

"Your welcome. You really hit the nail today with the defense. You had so much passion and determination."

"Yeah. Once I started questioning, I don't know what it was that fired me up whether it was my sympathy towards the witness, my beliefs as feminist, or…" she soon spotted Cyrus coming out of the courthouse with Kevin. They soon made eye contact with each other and he waved at her and gave her a smile, which made Irene beam and giddy like a little school girl. Of course, she kept it to herself since Mike was standing right there. Fortunately, he did not catch any of the action that just took place.

"Or?" Mike asked.

"Or all the knowledge I got from Albany," Irene answered quickly.

"I believe it would be a combination of all of those factors. Now let's get some lunch and head back to the office. We need to prepare for the cross-examination of the suspect."

"Sure," Irene said a bit disappointed because she was hoping to talk to Cyrus but that would have to wait till the trial is over. Irene's momentum soon continued to grow which played a great benefit to second day of the trial when cross examining the defense. Mike continued to be more and more impressed with her legal skills.

The following day, Kevin was sorting out some paperwork when he spotted his partner on the laptop doing something…unrelated to work. Kevin came closer to see what Cyrus was reading.

"Hmm investigating our ADA's new boyfriend", Kevin observed with amusement seeing that Cyrus was on Jon's company website page. "How did you find out his name?"

"Huh? Oh hey. I recognized his face from a billboard on the way here." Cyrus said surprised to see his partner standing behind him. "Plus it is my duty as a fellow police officer to make sure our ADA is safe and not with some pervert criminal."

"She seems to be an extra special citizen to you," Kevin remarked.

"Well…she kinda is.." Cyrus trailed off.

"Save it. It's kinda obvious that you really like her don't you?" Kevin grinned. Cyrus was silent but he knew Kevin knew him better. However, Kevin could not help but be sympathetic towards his partner. What Cyrus didn't know was Kevin was secretly rooting for Cyrus to win Irene's heart. Since they have been working together, Kevin noticed Cyrus really needed some companionship. He started realizing this after seeing Cyrus had that brief affair with the yet-to-known suspect, Emma Kim in one of their crime cases. From that moment on, he watched Cyrus not having the best of luck with women.

Two days later, Mike and Irene were sitting with everyone else in the courtroom awaiting the jury's verdict. Irene was feeling extra nervous since it was the first trial she took the lead prosecution.

"Are you all right?" Mike asked sensing her anxiety.

"I'm ok. I'm just nervous that's all," Irene answered. "What if the jury finds him not guilty and let him go free and continues to abuse other women?"

"Well we'll try to find a way to appeal or just move on."

The jury soon re-entered the room and took back their places.

"Has the jury reached the verdict?" Judge Hudgens asked.

"We have your honor," the lead juror answered. The judge then motioned the defense to rise.

"On the count of murder and rape in the first degree, how do you find the defendant?"

"We find the defendant guilty."

"Wonderful job today," Mike said sitting down next to Connie and facing Irene and handing them drinks. They decided to come out and celebrate at the bar for winning the case. Since Irene took lead on the case, she happily agreed to come out and deciding to have an Ice tea along with Connie who had recently given birth. Mike also wanted Connie to have a night off away from the baby.

"I told Mike he should have some faith in you," Connie smiled. "Even if you are a rookie."

"Thanks, " Irene laughed. "Tell me Connie, was Mike as overbearing with you as he is with me?" Connie looked over at Mike.

"He was at first until I held my own ground," Connie answered.

"And we soon found a commonality to cooperate efficiently," Mike immediately added.

"And it turned out for the better," Irene observed. She could clearly tell Mike and Connie were really in love as she watched Mike kissed Connie's head on the side. "So what's motherhood like, Connie?"

"It is the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me," Connie answered with a glow. "Watching our baby everyday consistently brings new surprises and joys. One moment she is crawling then another moment she is standing by herself."

"The next minute she is pooping and crying," Mike said.

"That's because I make Mike change her diapers and rock her to sleep at night when he's home," Connie laughed. "After I spend the whole day with her."

"I would like to see that," Irene said amused trying to visualize Mike change a baby's diaper with his hands. "What's her name?"

"Esmeralda Rose Cutter," Connie answered.

"What a beautiful name," Irene exclaimed. "How did you guys come up with her name?"

"Well when she opened her eyes for the first time, I noticed she had my green eyes. We knew she had to have a Spanish name because of Connie's heritage and Esmeralda was a perfect fit. Her middle name is after my grandmother's," Mike answered.

"You'll have to bring her to the office some time," Irene said.

"I'll try to when she's a bit older and when Mike needs to work late nights," Connie replied.

"And if you ever need a babysitter and a night with just the two of you, I'm readily available," Irene offered.

"Great! I will let Jack know to add that to your responsibilities and give a bonus every time you baby sit," Mike responded. All three of them laughed.

"What's so funny?" said a voice. Irene looked up to see Cyrus and Kevin standing there.

"Detectives, nice of you to join us," Mike greeted. Cyrus immediately sat himself next to Irene while Kevin pulled up a chair.

"Irene offered to baby sit Esmeralda whenever Mike and I need time for ourselves," Connie answered.

"And I told her that I would let Jack know to add baby-sitting to her responsibilities as ADA and raise her salary," Mike put in.

"I see. Although I don't think Jack would agree," Kevin said.

"Well Jack would need some convincing."

They soon began making some small talk and discussed issues outside the case mostly Connie going on and on about Esmeralda. Despite the fact that Cyrus was sitting right next to her, Irene avoided making any eye contact with him. For some reason, she felt nervous that night conversing to him directly even though she wanted to talk to him since the trial ended. Cyrus too wandered the same thing, hoping they would have some alone time later that night. Soon the night drew to an end, Mike and Connie were the first to leave. As they were getting ready to head out, Kevin pulled Cyrus aside.

"My girl just called me to spend the night at her place and it happens to be right around the corner from the bar," Kevin said. "So I don't need a ride. Although I think our ADA would fully appreciate it if you give her a ride," Kevin winked at him and nodded towards Irene. Cyrus's eyes widened but jumped at an opportunity. He soon approached Irene.

"Do you need a ride home?" he asked casually.

"Oh?" she said looking up at him surprised. "Sure yeah thank you." They said goodbye to Kevin before Cyrus led her to the car and opened the passenger door for her. They soon rode in silence until Cyrus hit the first red light.

"You really were amazing today," he complimented.

"Thank you," she smiled.

"I guess all those years and all nighters at law school really paid off," Cyrus continued.

"Yeah definitely," Irene admitted. "But I think there were other factors."

"Like what?" Cyrus asked curiously.

"Well my disdain towards the suspect and my views as a feminist and…your presence," she answered slowly.

"My presence?" Cyrus repeated surprised.

"Even though there was the bailiff and other court officers stationed, your presence made me feel secured and confident to take on the defense and prosecute knowing they can't attack me," Irene confessed. "Because you are there." Cyrus didn't know what to say or how to interpret her statement.

"Well I'm glad you feel that way," he finally said. "I'll make sure to appear in court whenever Mike lets you prosecute."

"I'll look forward to it," she spoke with a smile looking up at him. As they continued towards her apartment, Cyrus wondered if he should ask her about Jon and their relationship status. He then decided not to intrude to make her suspicious. The car soon made a stop in front of Irene's apartment.

"Thank you again for giving me a ride home," Irene said.

"My pleasure," Cyrus smiled. "Before you head out, I want you to know something."

"What is it?" Irene said looking at him and wondering what he was going to say.

"If any man dares to hurt you either verbally, emotionally or even physically, they would have to answer to me personally."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Since beginning working in the DA's office, Irene truly cherished weekends where she can just relax on Saturday mornings, watching TV and stuff herself. Irene, however, knew when the cases get more intense, she would have to give up her Saturdays to work in the office. She might as well enjoy the free time when she can. This Saturday, she couldn't help but ponder on Cyrus's last words or rather promise to her in the car. She wondered if he said it as a friend, a loyal police officer, or because of his personal feelings for her. Whatever the reason behind his commitment, she thought his promise was quite touching, not to mention flattering. As she was eating her breakfast, Irene had to also admit to herself that Cyrus was quite handsome with his rugged face and sideburns and his big brown eyes. She also had to remind herself that she had a boyfriend and she should keep her personal life and professional life separate. As if to remind her, her cell-phone rang identifying Jon as the caller.

"Hey Jon," Irene answered.

"Hey Irene. How are you?"

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm great. Just got back from my Saturday morning workout. What are you up to?"

"Wow. Unlike you, I'm being a lazy bum in bed eating and watching some TV." Jon laughed in response.

"I was going to ask you if you are doing anything tonight?"

"Nope. Do you have something in mind?"

"Yes. I want to invite you to an art gallery opening of one of my clients."

"Sure I'd love to. What time?"

"I'll pick you up at 6:30 pm."

"Great! I'll see you then."

"I'm really impressed with your work," Cyrus told to his friend, Fernando.

"Thank you man. All those years being a starving artist has paid off," Fernando smiled as they walked around the gallery of Fernando's paintings.

"Well I wouldn't call you starving. You still had a stable job while you pursued your talents on the side. And I can vouch for the many times, we had food together, you ate way more than I did," Cyrus counteracted.

"That was because you were paying. And I lived in crappy apartment in Brooklyn."

"And look at you now," Cyrus said gesturing to around the gallery.

"Yeah. Now people can appreciate my work," Fernando said looking around the gallery. "Oh I see my realtor arriving." Cyrus turned his head towards the entrance and his heart skipped a beat. He watched Irene come in a bright blue cocktail dress that really complemented her figure. He then looked over to the man who walked in with her.

'So this is Jon,' Cyrus thought. Cyrus then began sizing up his arch rival now that he had a clear view. He appeared to be tall and clean cut and confident and assured of himself. Cyrus reminded himself to keep an eye on Jon during the night.

While Irene walked in with Jon, she could help but be surprised to see Cyrus there. He seemed to make surprise appearances everywhere. He didn't look that bad either in an all black suit. Soon the artist approached both her and Jon and they started introductions and began small talk. Once Jon and Fernando were in deep conversation, Irene quietly walked away towards Cyrus who was looking at a painting.

"We seem to be running into each other a lot," Irene said approaching him. "Or you're just fulfilling your promise as my personal bodyguard?"

Cyrus chuckled a little.

"Maybe both," he grinned looking her up and down. "You look absolutely stunning."

"Thank you," she smiled truly pleased at his compliment. "I guess it's not something you see every day of me. Usually you see me in some business-like suit."

"True. But even without the make-up and hair, you still you look beautiful," Cyrus admitted. "No matter what you wear."

Irene just stood there speechless at his words. Cyrus then continued. "But it's the inside that counts."

"You're very sweet," Irene finally managed to say.

"It's the truth," Cyrus smiled. Irene smiled back and decided to change the subject.

"So what were you looking at?" Irene said turning their attention to the painting.

"One of my friend's most prized work," Cyrus answered.

"Your friend?" Irene said surprised.

"Yes the artist, Fernando is a good friend of mine," Cyrus answered.

"Wow. This is a small world," Irene said.

"It sure is." Irene soon saw Jon approaching them.

"Hello sweetheart," Jon said purposely kissing her cheek just to spite Cyrus.

"Hi Jon," Irene greeted back. "Jon, this is Cyrus Lupo. He is a detective I work with at the NYPD. Cyrus, this is Jon Wheeler. He is…a real estate agent. We knew each other from college," Irene introduced.

"Yes I know," Cyrus said straining himself looking at Jon. "I mean your company is well known around New York."

"Well what can I say, we got lucky through the economic crisis," Jon said with some sort of smirk on his face. "And we continue to expand and succeed. Last year, I managed to successfully complete ten projects and convince several companies to invest in Knight House. Our stock went up 20%." Cyrus could clearly tell Jon was trying to demean him and proving his qualifications for impressing a girl prevailed over Cyrus's own abilities. Cyrus tried to keep a straight face but could not help but feel defeated and at the same time, wanting to punch Jon in the face. However, he was saved by an angel.

"Jon, before he returned to the NYPD, Cyrus was stationed in the Middle East working for Intel. Before that, he worked in Intel in China," Irene informed.

"Really?" Jon said surprised at Irene's words.

"Yes. He got to travel the world and experience different cultures, some things most of us are not lucky enough to do," Irene added. Cyrus could not help but smile, not to mention feel thankful towards Irene and triumph over Jon.

"I see," Jon said clearly not expecting this outcome to not rule in his favor. "Um Irene, I see someone I want you to meet," Jon said gently but firmly dragging her by the arm.

"Bye Cyrus," Irene said giving him a smile before walking away.

"Have a nice evening," Cyrus responded. He continued to watch her from afar during the whole evening.

"Hello Detective. Fancy to see you here," said a familiar voice. Cyrus turned around to see Lieutenant Van Buren and her husband, Frank coming towards him.

"Hi Anita, Frank, good to see you again," Cyrus greeted. "Fernando is a close friend."

"I see. And you are enjoying the exhibit," Anita said with a smile. He was caught off guard because Cyrus knew she wasn't referring to Fernando's art work or sculptures.

"Well…Fernando is extremely talented," Cyrus stuttered pretending to not know what she was talking about.

"Come on Detective, you can't fool ole' me," Anita laughed. "I saw you eying Ms. Frey this whole time."

"Oh…well I was just surprised to see her here as I am to see you," Cyrus retorted.

"Uh huh."

"Oh Anita, stop bothering your detective on his time off," Frank said placing an arm around Anita.

"I'm not. I'm just teasing," Anita grinned. "Besides she does look beautiful tonight."

"Yes she is," Cyrus admitted.

"I see," Anita observed crossing her arms.

"And so are you tonight," Cyrus answered quickly but honestly.

"Well thank you Lupo," she said deciding not to tease Cyrus any longer. Once the exhibit came to a close, Lupo and Fernando decided to go out for drinks at the nearby bar.

Irene sat uncomfortably during the silence as Jon drove her home. She could clearly tell that Jon was not pleased with her defending Cyrus instead of staying on his side. But Irene thought Jon let his ego and pride get the best of him enough to demean Cyrus.

"I have to cancel our date tomorrow night," Jon finally spoke once they reached her apartment.

"Oh ok. Why?" Irene asked out of curiosity.

"Because I have a business strategy meeting and it may run over," Jon answered.

"We could do something after your meeting," Irene offered.

"It may run over," Jon said not really looking at her.

"Oh well we could make it up another night."

"Yeah I suppose."

"Well good night," Irene said getting out of the car.

The next morning, Irene was organizing files on her desk when Mike popped his head inside her office.

"Hi there," Mike greeted.

"Yes Mike?" Irene said looking up.

"I'm just wondering whether you had any plans tonight?" Mike inquired.

"No I don't have any plans. Why? What's up?" Irene asked wondering if Mike was planning an all-nighter.

"I am planning to treat Connie with dinner and a play. And I was hoping you could baby-sit Esmeralda for us," he answered.

"Sure. I'd love to baby-sit Esmeralda. Connie definitely deserves a night off from her job as a stay-at-home mom," Irene grinned.

"Great," Mike chuckled. "I will see you at 6:30 pm."

"Alright."

Later that evening, Irene promptly arrived at 6:30 pm and was greeted by Mike and a squealing little baby girl.

"Well hello there, you must be Esmeralda," Irene greeted with a smile.

"Yes she is," Mike said inviting Irene into his and Connie's townhouse.

"She definitely has your eyes," Irene said looking at Esmeralda. "But I bet all her other good looks came from her mother."

"I certainly don't mind that as long as she has my sharp personality," Mike said giving his daughter a kiss on the forehead.

"So where are you taking Connie tonight?"

"I am taking her out for dinner at Tavern on the Green," Mike answered.

"Really, wow! I've heard that place is really exclusive and reservations had to be booked in months before," Irene gasped. "How did you manage to score that?"

"Being the Assistant District Attorney of Manhattan has some advantages," Mike said with a grin.

"Oh really?" Irene said skeptically.

"Yes. The owner happens to be a good friend of Jack's. He recently sponsored Jack's campaign for reelection and said dinner would be on the house so Jack passed it to me."

"I see. Are you doing anything after dinner?"

"As a matter of a fact, I am taking her to see Wicked on Broadway."

"Impressive. Who knew you could be quite the gentleman, Mike not to mention an admired patron of the thespian society," Irene commented.

"It goes to show how little you know about your partner."

"I'm learning more and more every day." Soon Connie came down in a very sexy dress enough to convince anyone she was not a stay at home mom. "Connie, you look amazing."

"Thank you," Connie said.

"Yes you do," Mike said staring at her. They looked at each other for a moment before realizing Irene was in the room. Irene couldn't help but giggle. "Well you have my cell phone number. Connie's number is on the fridge as well as the pediatrician's," Mike informed.

"I just gave her a bath," Connie added meticulously. "Her milk is in the fridge so is her dinner. She should eat in about an hour from now. Give her, her milk half hour later. She should be in bed at around 9. I would suggest rocking her and put the music on. Diapers are in a cupboard beside her crib."

"All right," Irene smiled nodding her head.

"If anything call us," Mike said.

"I will," Irene assured them. "Don't worry. Your daughter is in great hands with someone who constantly baby sat to pay herself through law school." Mike soon handed Esmeralda over to Irene after giving his little girl a kiss. Mike and Connie said their goodbyes before leaving. "I thought they would never leave," Irene said looking down at Esmeralda. "Something tells me your mommy and daddy can't bear to leave you alone with someone else." Esmeralda giggled. To Irene's surprise, she didn't cry when Mike and Connie were out of the house. "Well who could blame them for being first time parents. I'm sure I'll be like that when I have my own child. Besides who would want to be away from a cute baby like you?"

Irene then played with Esmeralda for a while before feeding her, her dinner Connie had prepared. As instructed, she gave her milk afterwards and burped her. Irene then brought Esmeralda to her nursery which she found very pink to the core. She tried to picture Mike fixing this room up as she was rocking Esmeralda to sleep. Once Esmeralda had fallen into a deep slumber, Irene gently placed her in the crib before turning off the light and taking the baby monitor with her to the living room. She decided to watch a movie when she heard the doorbell rang. 'Who could it be,' Irene wondered. She got up and looked through the key hole and was surprised to see Cyrus standing outside.

"Hi," she greeted opening the door.

"Oh hi Irene," Cyrus greeted with his eyes wide open clearly also surprised to see her standing there, but certainly didn't mind. I um…came to return Mike's law book. He let me borrow it for one of my papers," he explained showing the book. "I was also hoping he'd look over my paper before I hand it in."

"Oh well Mike and Connie are out tonight and I'm watching Esmeralda," Irene answered.

"I see," Cyrus said and was about to head to the car.

"But why not you come in? I can look over your paper for you," she offered secretly not wanting him to leave quite soon. "And we can sit and have tea. It's pretty quiet and lonely even though with the presence of an infant."

"Sure," he smiled and walked in. "So how is Esmeralda?"

"Sleeping like an angel," Irene answered with a smile. Cyrus thought he also saw a twinkle in her eye.

"Are you sure?"

"She hasn't made a sound since I left her room," Irene said showing him the baby monitor. When they reached the living room, Cyrus put the book on the coffee table. He then handed Irene his paper and Irene looked it over while Cyrus made them both a cup of tea.

"So what do you think?" Cyrus asked.

"It's really good," Irene commented. "A few grammar mistakes here and there but well written and quite convincing. I marked down where you need to edit and stuff."

"Great thanks," he said taking the paper from her.

"Are you on duty tonight?" she asked

"No unless I get called to a crime scene so I can stay here as long as you want me to," Cyrus answered.

"Or maybe until a bit before Mike and Connie come home," Irene substituted.

"Right. We don't want them to be suspicious," Cyrus winked at her which made her blush.

"No of course not." Irene decided to change the subject. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

"Sure. You pick." Irene then walked over to Mike and Connie's DVD collection and selected a movie and popped it in the DVD player. At the beginning of the movie, Irene and Cyrus sat a significant distance apart on the couch. However, as the movie continued, Irene started to inch closer and closer until her body touched Cyrus's. Cyrus soon wrapped an arm around her shoulder as she leaned in closer. Irene kept wondering what was she doing but at the same time she didn't mind the closeness. She soon noticed Cyrus was watching her more than the movie and smiled nervously when looking at him. He later placed his other hand on hers and began smoothing it which made her even tinglier inside. When she caught his gaze again, he quickly leaned towards her and kissed her.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Irene found herself kissing him back and wrapping her arms around his neck. The passion between them was slowly ameliorating. However, a loud cry through the baby monitor interrupted the kiss before it got more intense, bringing both of them back to reality. Irene immediately pulled away and got off the couch and headed upstairs.

Cyrus just sat there and began digesting what just happened between them. He started to replay the event and one thing stuck in his mind, she did not pull back. Irene soon came back downstairs and they stared at each other for a moment.

"She's fast asleep now as she should be. She didn't need changing or feeding. I figured Esmeralda had a nightmare so I just rocked her to sleep," Irene explained. Cyrus just stared at the before nodding in response. Cyrus was about to say something when they head the door open. They both turned to see Mike and Connie walking in.

"Well hello Lupo," Mike greeted. "Funny to see you here," he looked from Cyrus to Irene.

"I actually came in not long before you. I wanted to return your law book as well as have you look over my paper," Cyrus answered quickly noticing Mike's suspicion.

"And I told him you'd be home at any moment so to wait a little while," Irene added.

"Well I just got called out to a crime scene," Cyrus said. "So I have to get going." He said good night and went out the door leaving Irene with Mike and Connie in an awkward position.

"So how's Esmeralda?" Connie asked.

"She was fine, definitely a joy to baby-sit. Not fussy at all. I fed her, gave her milk and rocked her to sleep. She only got up once from a nightmare," Irene explained.

"Oh good. Glad she was not too much trouble," Connie smiled. "I'm going up to check on her." Connie then made her way up the stairs.

"I should be going. It's getting late," Irene said really wanting to avoid any questioning from Mike and slowly but surely making her way to the door.

"Thank you again for baby-sitting," Mike said in response but couldn't help but be suspicious.

"Any time," Irene said before heading out the door. She was soon climbing down the stairs when she saw Cyrus leaning against his car.

"You need a ride?" he asked.

"I thought you were being called on assignment," Irene said surprised to see him.

"I lied to avoid any confrontation from Mike," Cyrus confessed.

"Oh well I can walk and take the subway home," Irene answered briskly. She was afraid of what just a ride home might lead. Irene had to admit to herself that she was unsure how her own state of emotions would escalate if she were to accept his offer.

"But it's late and dark and a woman like you shouldn't be walking alone by yourself," Cyrus protested.

"I can take care of myself," Irene scoffed. "I've got pepper spray in my bag."

"Please I'd be more comfortable if I took you home. If you get attacked, I would never forgive myself for letting you go," Cyrus begged grabbing her hand gently. Irene stared at Cyrus for a moment and noticed the genuine look in his eyes.

"Fine," Irene sighed. Cyrus then opened the door for her and she got in. They rode the car in silence. Once they reached Irene's apartment, she decided to confront him. "Why did you kiss me?"

"What?" Cyrus said taken aback by her question.

"Why did you kiss me?" Irene repeated. "You knew I have a boyfriend."

"Then why didn't you pull back?" Cyrus retorted.

"Don't you dare turn the tables on me. Why did you kiss me?" Irene demanded an answer, holding her ground.

"I guess I was caught in the moment," Cyrus said not looking at her.

"Is that the only reason?" Irene asked. Cyrus then looked up at her directly in the eye.

"You know what? It's not. You know why I sent you those flowers? Why I offer you rides home? Or why I get nervous sometimes when I speak to you?" Irene stared at him wondering what he was going to say next. "it's because I really like you. I have deep feelings for you that I can't seem to ignore. You are beautiful inside and out. I am not afraid to admit that you light up a room with your appearance and I think about you all the time. I also admit I get jealous whenever I see you with Jon," Cyrus confessed not believing he had lashed it all out. "That's why I kissed you." Irene just sat there in shock and tried her best to soak everything in. She was well aware of his feelings for her but she didn't expect him to admit them to her.

"Well you should have known that we could never be together," Irene said. "Good night." She quickly got out of the car and ran into her apartment. Cyrus just sat there watching her, his heart sinking.

"Maybe I shouldn't have kissed her."

The next day, Cyrus and Kevin were playing basketball. They usually spent Saturday mornings either jogging o engaging in a basketball game when they didn't have to be called to a crime scene. Kevin, however, could not help but notice Cyrus lack of focus on the game. Usually, the game got intensely competitive between them. But this time, Cyrus kept letting Kevin control the game and win the shots.

"Let's take 15," Kevin suggested. Cyrus nodded and they sat down on the benches and drank some water. "Is there something on your mind? Something bothering you?" he asked. Cyrus sighed but didn't answer right away.

"I was with Irene last night," he started.

"ADA Frey?" Kevin asked.

"Yes."

What were you guys doing?"

"Well we met coincidentally at Mike's house. She was baby-sitting Esmeralda and I came by to return Mike's book. I was going to leave but she actually invited me to stay."

"Oh," Kevin said motioning him to continue.

"We watched a movie and I…kissed her," Cyrus answered slowly.

"You kissed her?" Cyrus nodded.

"How…did she react?"

"Not well," Cyrus admitted. "She probably does not want to speak to me after that night. I guess I should not have given into temptation."

"Why do you think she wouldn't want to speak to you again?"

"Because she said I crossed boundaries as a co-worker," Cyrus said. "And I should know better."

"When you kissed her, did she pull back immediately?"

"No. She didn't and I did confront her about it and she accused me of seducing her."

I'm sure she needs time to cool off and maybe she'll talk to you again."

"Yeah you're right." They soon got off the benches and continued their game. Kevin then noticed Cyrus to pick up his game more.

A week past by, Cyrus had not seen Irene around. Not that he tried, both were very busy with their work. It was not until one fateful day when Cyrus was delivering some reports to Mike.

"Hello Cyrus," Denise greeted coming into the waiting room.

"Hi Denise. Here are the files, Mike wanted.

"Oh thank you Cyrus. I'll make sure Mike gets to them." Cyrus nodded and looked over to Irene's office window, noticing she wasn't there.

"Irene not in today?" he said casually.

"No she called in saying she's not feeling well. She really didn't sound great so I told her to stay in bed," Denise explained.

"I see," Cyrus said with a growing concern. He then decided this was an opportunity to patch things up with her. After he left the office, he then stopped by the flower shop and picked out an assortment of flower. He drove home and made a big pot of chicken and noodle soup. About two hours later, Cyrus was standing outside nervously holding the bouquet of flowers in one hand and a thermo of chicken soup in another. A few minutes later, the door opened and Irene soon appeared in pajamas and a bathrobe and slippers. Cyrus just stood there surprised because she clearly did not look sick. But he could tell she had been crying by the red eyes and her hand was holding tissue. Cyrus then realized may be she wasn't feeling well…emotionally.

"I…was at the office today and noticed you weren't there. Denise said you weren't feeling well so I thought…to make you feel better, I cooked some chicken soup. It was my grandma's recipe and it always cured me when I was sick. But I guess you aren't not physically well," Cyrus said. "But the soup's still delicious." He handed the thermo to her. "Well I best be going, I hope you feel better," he said when she still had not said a word.

"Cyrus!" she finally spoke as he was about to head towards the elevator. He then turned around to face her. "Thank you." Cyrus couldn't help but smile.

"You're welcome."

"Would you care to join me for lunch?" she asked. Cyrus thought for a moment.

"Sure." He followed Irene into her apartment. Irene put the flowers in a vase while Cyrus found two bowls to pour the soup in. He then handed Irene a bowl and sat down on a separate chair from her. When he began eating his soup, Cyrus could not help but notice the box of tissues on the table along with an empty glass of wine. 'If he really broke her heart and did something really awful to hurt her, I'll make sure to find some way to make his life extremely miserable,' Cyrus thought angrily. However, he decided to avoid questioning regarding Jon for now.

"This is really good soup," Irene said.

"Thanks. I'm not sure if I made it exactly like my grandma's but hers would always be the best because she would always sneak some spice in without writing it down," Cyrus explained. Irene laughed for what sounded like the very first time.

"I'm sure you brought you own methods to it," she smiled.

"Well I did add some extra onion and garlic for extra flavor," Cyrus admitted.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind." They continued eating their soup in silence. A few minutes later, Irene got up and Cyrus watched her stand by the window with her back to him and arms crossed. He heard her give a big sigh as she was looking out the window. Her next words surprised him.

"I'm sorry," Irene said, her back still facing him. "For lashing out at you like that. "

"No it was my fault. I shouldn't have made a move on you and taken advantage of you and your feelings," he said getting up and walking up behind her. "I promise I won't ever do that to you again." Irene looked at him.

"I forgive you," she said softly. She took one of his hands and squeezed it. Cyrus smiled back at her but he could still tell something was bothering her.

"What's wrong?" he finally asked her.

"Jon was promoted to chief financial officer of his real estate company and he has to move back to Boston," Irene explained. They soon made their way back to the couch and sat down. "And he asked me to marry him and move to Boston." She paused for a moment before saying "I turned him down."

"Oh," was all Cyrus could say. He did not know how to feel, sympathetic, happy, or shocked.

"I told him I could not leave my job here because I feel I just got started with my career and flourishing being in the district attorney's office. I was not ready for such a commitment and settle down. We got in a fight and…we broke up." Irene sniffled a little and kept looking down on the floor. Cyrus placed a hand on her back and smoothening it. "It's hard isn't it?" she said finally looking up.

"What?" Cyrus asked.

"Being a woman in a highly professional career like a district attorney. You either leave your job to have a personal life or sacrifice your personal life so you could strive to be the best in your career," Irene sighed. "But then you still miss out and suffer personal losses."

"Is that what he told you? It was your loss?"

"Yeah."

"Well I'm going to say it's his loss, not yours."

"You're only saying that because you're my friend," Irene said shaking it off.

"No I'm saying that because it's the truth. Irene, if he really loved you, he would have turned that offer and stayed here to be with you," Cyrus pointed out. "I'm also not afraid that he was a total fool for breaking up with a great girl like you."

"You're right," she smiled. "Thank you Cyrus…for everything."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Cyrus's consolation ultimately empowered Irene to pick herself off the ground and focus on building her career. She soon began throwing herself into her work. As a result, Irene's career started to flourish in the district attorney's office. She proved to be a strong prosecutor and hard worker to both Mike and Jack. Jack was especially noticing that Irene was slowly coming out of her shell when she was speaking more at meetings. After letting her try a few cases based on issues she is passionate about such as women and children's issues, Mike admitted to himself he was impressed by her growing energy and enthusiasm in her court room performance. He also found her a reliable team player especially in her detailed reports and her interviewing of key witnesses.

In addition, Irene and Cyrus's friendship started to grow. Despite times where he had to hold back his feelings, Cyrus found Irene to be a close confidant where he could tell her anything. Irene was also very dependable when Cyrus needed help studying for an exam or writing a paper for his law school classes. He occasionally returned the favor by offering her rides to and from work.

One day, Cyrus and Kevin were having lunch at a diner across from the precinct while waiting for report from the Medical Examiner.

"Would you like some more coffee?" the waitress serving them asked.

"No thank you," Cyrus answered.

"Is there anything else you need?" she asked again.

"No," Cyrus smiled.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay let me know if you need anything," she said before walking away.

"I think that waitress likes you," Kevin hinted once she was out of sight.

"No she was just being friendly and making sure she gets good tips," Cyrus said.

"You sure about that?" Kevin questioned. "Cause I noticed that she had her eye on you ever since we walked into the diner. She must have thought you're cute too."

Cyrus looked up to see the waitress taking orders from another table. She was clearly trying to avoid eye contact with him.

"She is kind of pretty," Cyrus admitted.

"May be you should ask her out," Kevin suggested.

"What? No. I barely know her," Cyrus immediately dismissed.

"Well this is your chance to get to know her. That's how first dates work out," Kevin said trying to convince his partner.

"What if she says no?"

"I doubt that would happen but you would never know if you do ask her out." 'What could hurt,' Cyrus finally decided. After they paid their bill, Cyrus walked over to the waitress who was on her break

"Hi there... Kat," Cyrus greeted reading her tag.

"Hi," Kat said looking up from her book.

"I see you are reading Jack Shonkhoff's Child Development book," Cyrus observed.

"Yes I'm getting my teaching credential to be a preschool teacher," Kat answered.

"We need more of those especially with more young children being parented by dual working families," Cyrus said.

"That's true. Do you need anything else?"

"Actually I was wondering…if you'd like to go out for dinner some time and a movie. I bet you would like that movie 'Waiting for Superman' that is out right nw."

"Sure," Kat responded with a smile. "I have the night off on Saturday."

"Great. I'll pick you up at 6:30?"

"Sounds good to me." Kat gave him his address and phone number before Cyrus headed out with Kevin.

About a few weeks later, Irene was getting ready in her apartment for an annual gala being hosted by Mayor Bloomberg honoring fire fighters and police officers for their continuing services to the city. The mayor had invited Jack to the gala as a close friend and strong supporter. Jack then extended the invitation to Mike and Connie. Unfortunately Esmeralda had fallen very ill so Connie had to stay home. Mike decided to bring Irene instead.

Irene checked the time, noting Mike was going to pick her up in 10 minutes. Irene examined her look for the twentieth time. She had chosen strapless blue dress that really complimented her body figure with her hair down in loose curls. Not that she was trying to impress anyone or catch the eye of a certain police officer. Once she heard the doorbell ring, she grabbed her coat and purse and turned off the lights before heading out.

Once they arrived at the party, they met up with Jack who then introduced them to Mayor Bloomberg. While they were in deep conversation with the mayor, Irene looked around the room to see Cyrus had not arrived yet. A few moments later, Irene saw Cyrus and Kevin walk in their police uniforms. At first sight, Irene could not help but admit to herself that Cyrus looked extremely handsome in his formal police uniform. Irene's heart then sank when she saw he had a date on his arm. Irene soon turned her eyes and sized up this…other woman. She was not too tall with blonde hair and green eyes and was wearing a black dress cut just above the knee. Irene could help but feel a pang of jealousy inside of her and secretly wished she was the woman under his arm. She immediately turned away hoping Cyrus had not noticed.

Cyrus was getting drinks for him and Kat when he saw Irene across the room in a deep conversation with the mayor. 'She looked beautiful in that blue dress,' he thought. He was about to go up to her when Kat walked up to him.

"Hey, did you get us drinks?" Kat asked.

"Yes," Cyrus said turning to her and handing her a glass. He then noticed Irene joining a group conversation with Jack. Cyrus then focused his attentions on Kat.

About thirty minutes after the conversation broke up, Irene walked towards the h'orderves table where Kevin was.

"Hello Kevin," Irene greeted as took a plate and started picking up some food.

"Hi Irene," Kevin said looking up.

"I see you have a lot on your plate," Irene observed.

"Well when you get invited to an event with free food, you got to make the most of it," Kevin pointed out.

"I agree," Irene smiled. Once both their plates were full, they moved to an empty side table. They made some small talk while they ate. "So um who is Cyrus's date?" Irene asked curiously.

"Her name is Kathryn Lewis. She works at a diner across the street from the precinct," Kevin answered.

"Oh," was Irene all could say.

"She and Cyrus have been going out for a few weeks," Kevin added.

"I see," Irene said watching the couple. She could tell Cyrus had told a joke by the sounds of their laughter. "Excuse me, Kevin, I'm going to get some air," Irene said before heading out to the balcony.

"Ok," Kevin said who could not help but be amused at Irene's apparent jealousy. He soon saw his friend coming towards him.

"Enjoying the food, Kevin?" Cyrus noted.

"You know I am," Kevin answered with a smile.

"I saw you were talking with Irene earlier," Cyrus said.

"Yes before she went to the balcony."

"What…were you talking about?" Cyrus asked wanting to know.

"Oh nothing much really just some small talk about the weird weather we've been having, the latest news on political scandals surrounding New York and the accomplishments the mayor has achieved this past year," Kevin answered lightly.

"Oh," Cyrus said disappointed.

"She also asked about you," Kevin said noticing his friend's disappointed face.

"Really?" Cyrus said his eyes lighting up. "What about?"

"Well she asked who your date was and I told her that you and Kat have been dating for a while. You'd be happy to know that you got our ADA quite jealous," Kevin said with a wink.

"Really?"

"Yes our ADA sounded extremely disappointed that you are no longer single and have been dating someone for some weeks," Kevin hinted. Cyrus could not be help but be happy about the news. Sensing his friend's excitement, Kevin then suggested "Maybe you should console her while your date is in the bathroom."

"Maybe I will," Cyrus said before heading out to the balcony.

Irene was sitting on a bench deep in thought with her hands holding onto the edges of the bench. 'Why shouldn't he be seeing someone else? I did keep telling him that I am more interested in focusing on my career and once I get to the level I want to be, then I will think about dating. I mean I should not expect him to wait that long for me or wait for me at all. Besides I should be happy for him. I'm sure she can probably make more time for him than I ever could,' Irene reasoned. 'But then why I can't help but envy his date?'

"Well hello there," greeted a very familiar voice interrupting Irene's thoughts. Irene immediately looked up startled to see Cyrus standing there gazing at her.

"Oh hi," Irene greeted in a rather jittery voice.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?"

"I…needed some air. The room was stuffy ," Irene said.

"I see," Cyrus smiled. "May I join you?"

"Sure," Irene said feeling her heart skip a beat as Cyrus sat down next to her.

"You look beautiful tonight," Cyrus complimented.

"Thank you," Irene said feeling her face blush. "You…look quite…distinguished…in your uniform," she managed to utter.

"Thank you." They sat there in silence.

"Your…date looks beautiful as well," Irene finally said.

"Yes she does," Cyrus said who could not help but be surprised at her words.

"Kevin tells me that you met her at a diner where she works."

"I did. She is also going to school part time to be a school teacher."

"Sounds like you have some commonalities," Irene observed.

"Yes and she's a great cook and has a wonderful sense of humor," Cyrus added.

'Two things I'm not,' Irene thought.

"Sounds like she makes you very happy. And she's very lucky to have someone like you…any woman would be lucky to date you," Irene admitted out loud. She felt her face turn red realizing she just said that out loud and turned away from Cyrus.

Cyrus just sat there and wondered if Irene just revealed her true feelings for him.

"Well we've just been dating for a few weeks. It hasn't grown to anything serious," Cyrus responded. "I mean I'm still single in an open relationship," offering her an open door. Irene then turned to face him.

"If I were her, I would hold onto you and not let any other woman get in my way," Irene said in response clearly rejecting his open door and edging further away from him. "And if I see another woman talking to him, I would be extremely concerned."

"I would tell her then that I am more worried about her being left in a room by herself surrounded by a bunch of potential bachelors whom I have to fight with for attention," Cyrus said with a grin. Irene was taken aback by his answer.

"I think…that we should go back inside. Mayor Bloomberg is about to give a speech," Irene said getting up and hoping to prevent the situation from getting intense. Once she was on her feet, she quickly walked back inside leaving Cyrus sitting there and watching her.

Cyrus sighed. 'Why can't she just admit her feelings?'


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Irene was typing an email when Mike knocked on her door.

"Yes?"

"The police say they have a lead on some connections with the suspect. They would like for you to go with them?"

"I'm sure they can handle it themselves and just report it to me," Irene said wanting to avoid any contact with Cyrus.

"Well we need to save time as our case builds. Detective Bernard is gathering forensic evidence and I need you to go with Detective Lupo to interview key people of the suspect's past." Irene felt her heart skip a beat at his name. She sighed and remained composed.

"Sure."

About an hour later, Irene walked out of the office to find Cyrus waiting for her in the car.

"Hi," he greeted with a smile once she got into the car.

"Hello," she greeted back. After she closed the door, Cyrus started the engine and drove off.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Fine and you?"

"I've been food." They continued to drive in silence. As they got into the main street, they found themselves caught in traffic.

"Guess we'll be here for a while," Cyrus stated realizing the traffic was nowhere close to moving.

"Yeah," Irene sighed. She was hoping this would be a quick meeting. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck in traffic with Cyrus. On top of that, the weather was raining hard during rush hour. 'Well, I might as well make the best of it,' Irene thought.

"How…is Kat?" Irene asked curiously.

"She's doing all right," Cyrus answered. "Actually I stopped seeing her."

"Oh," was all Irene could say. His answer really caught her off guard. "What happened?"

"We decided to just stay friends. I guess we just grew apart and the spark between us stopped."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's all good though we mutually discovered we're better with other people," he said looking at her.

"I see," Irene said avoiding his eyes by looking out the window. She decided to change the subject. "How are your law school classes?"

"They're almost done for the year. I have two final exams coming up. And I wanted to ask you if you could come over maybe this Sunday night to study for those exams?"

Irene then turned around to face him.

"Sure…I'd be happy to," Irene said. "My weekend is pretty open."

"Great," he beamed. Once Irene made direct eye contact with his, she immediately turned away.

"So how is your sister in law and niece and nephew?"

"Doing fine. My niece just entered middle school and my nephew got first place at the science fair."

"That's awesome."

"Yeah their dad would be proud."

"I bet he is because they have a wonderful uncle like you," Irene said looking at him with a smile."

"Thanks," Cyrus said.

"No problem," Irene said looking away.

"So what are your plans for thanksgiving?"

"Well my parents are going to some cruise to Mexico so a friend invited me to her family's house here in NY."

"Oh that's nice," Cyrus commented, secretly happy that she was staying back.

"What about you?"

"Spending it with my sister in law and her new fiancée."

"Cool. You'll still be in the city."

"Yeah she lives in Brooklyn."

"That's convenient."

They continued to drive in silence, then, out of the blue, Cyrus decided to say something.

"You've been avoiding me lately."

"No I haven't," Irene immediately defended.

"Yes you have. You've been neglecting ride offers from me."

"I've been working really late and I did not want you to wait that long."

"Irene, I'm a cop. My hours are 24/7. It doesn't matter. Also why haven't you been out to drinks with us?"

"I had other appointments."

"Then how come until now, you've avoided going with me to interview witnesses?"

"I had other parts of the cases I needed to focus on." Irene then faced forward. "Oh look, the traffic started moving. Cyrus sighed and started the accelerator. They managed to reach the witnesses' house in a good time. Once they got outside of the car, both independently decided not to push the subject further. After interviewing the witness, they headed back on the road in silence. Fortunately they gained a lot of vital information from their witness. This gave Irene a lot of notes to write down in preparation for the case while in the car, an excuse to take attention away from Cyrus.

"Would you like for me to drop you off at the office?" Cyrus finally asked.

"Yeah that would be great. Mike should be in so I can give him my report," Irene answered still writing notes.

"Cool," Cyrus sighed.

"It's good to see you again Alex," Mike said as he and Connie and Esmeralda joined their former colleague, Alexandra Cabot for lunch.

"Good to see you both. I must say both of you look great," Alex complimented. "Parenthood has certainly done wonders."

"Well I can definitely say that about Connie," Mike smiled.

"I see. Connie, are you thinking about going back to work, once Esmeralda is older?"

"I haven't really thought of it," Connie said looking down at Esmeralda who was fast asleep in the stroller. "I just love spending every moment with her. I just can't imagine being away from her," she admitted.

"Wait till she's a teenager then she'll start demanding you spending time away from her," Alex said with a wink.

"So how is working at the UN?" Mike asked.

"It's been a great experience. A lot of traveling and hard ground work but the rewards are amazing. I really see the difference and social change I make in the lives of women. We recently provided more accessibility to birth control and women's health clinics in some parts of Africa," Alex beamed with pride.

"Glad to see you happy at your new job," Mike said. "But I must say Jack misses you. He wished he could join us but he had a meeting with the governor."

"What? Misses me driving him crazy and up the wall with my risky tactics," Alex joked. "I thought he already has you for that." All three of them laughed. "Speaking of which, how is the new ADA…Irene Frey I think her name is."

"Irene's…been…good," Mike trailed off.

"You hesitated when you answered," Alex observed. "You don't like her?"

"No she has really been a great partner. She works really hard and very reliable even at the oddest hours," Mike said.

"Yet something is wrong with her? Is it because she's not Connie? She doesn't always remember your favorite Chinese take out dish the way Connie does?" Alex teased.

"No, Irene is actually very detail oriented even when it comes to ordering take out. It's just I can't still fathom the fact that she's young and does not have many years of experience."

"Well age should not matter as long as she got the talent and qualifications to prove it."

""But it still makes her emotionally vulnerable which may hinder some of our intense cases. Alex, I know you interviewed her. What made her stand out to you?" Mike inquired.

"I do admit that I was surprised at her age and amount of experience she has and this was her first attorney job. But I read more into her resume and writings and I was impressed. She may not have been a lawyer but she had a lot of legislative work experience."

But what was it that made her stand out?"

"I could see it in her eyes that she is willing to fight for what she wants, a quality you have."

"Oh..to be honest, I haven't noticed that much about her," Mike admitted.

"Well this is a chance to let her shine especially since she's single and is not tied down with someone," Alex pointed out.

"Yeah she's not." Then Mike had a thought.

After dropping off Connie and Esmeralda at home, Mike later drove to a tavern when he was planning to met up with Cyrus. They planned to go over cross examination procedures of Mike's questions to Cyrus for the next trial.

"Well I think we're all settled," Mike said after they finished reviewing the final question.

"Good," said Cyrus.

"Actually there's one more thing Detective," Mike said realizing he should get this off his shoulders.

"What is it?"

"Other than trial preparation businesses, I think you should stay away from Ms. Frey," Mike stated firmly looking at Cyrus with serious eyes.

"Why? What do you mean?" Cyrus said totally caught off guard at Mike's words.

"I mean that you should keep your professional life separate from your personal life…at least for her sake," Mike emphasized. Cyrus stared at Mike as if he was crazy.

"We're just friends," Cyrus argued.

"Really? Sometimes I wonder if it's something more," Mike said suspiciously. "Cause whenever I see her outside the office, you always happen to be there."

"Can't two colleagues hang out?"

"Look, she's different. She's still young and vulnerable but when it comes work, she's heavily focused and I need that without any distractions that might draw her away," Mike pointed out.

"So it's ok for you and Connie to date but not anyone else?"

"That…was dif..different."

"I don't really see the difference."

"Either way, I am telling you to keep your distance."

"I think both she and I are adults who can make independent decisions on how to balance work life with personal life without anyone telling us how," Cyrus said before getting up and leaving the bar without saying goodbye.

Later that evening, Cyrus was sitting on his couch drinking a bottle of beer while flipping through various channels. He was trying to forget everything Mike said and shrug off all his anger. All of a sudden, he heard the doorbell ring. Cyrus checked the time before answering, wondering who could it be. He knew it could not be Kevin, he was out of town with his girl. He then got up and answered the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see Irene there.

"Hi…I was in the neighborhood, having dinner with a friend and decided to drop by."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Would you like something to drink?" Cyrus offered.

"No thank you," Irene said pacing the room. 'What am I doing here?' she contemplated.

"Why did you come over?" Cyrus asking the question for her. Irene stared at him for a moment before looking down at her feet.

"To tell you, why I've been avoiding you," Irene said quietly but Cyrus heard every word.

"If you are going to tell me, you might as well look at me straight in the eye," he cupped her chin with his hand. Cyrus then took her hand and led her to the couch where they both sat down. Irene took a deep breath.

"I don't want to lose you as a friend," she finally confessed. Cyrus stared at her weirdly.

"Avoiding me isn't exactly helping that purpose," Cyrus pointed out.

"As much as I did not want to admit it, my own feelings for you were growing."

"Oh," was all Cyrus could say.

"And when I have feelings for someone, I tend to let it all out. But I thought if we did pursue a relationship, I got scared that we would not last long, break up and have those awkward moments when we have to work together and not be friends," Irene admitted. Cyrus stared at Irene in amazement wondering how does she think so far ahead with the pros and cons and rationalizes.

"How do we know if we don't dry?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Well I am the type of person who likes to be in control and know the expected outcome."

"Sometimes you have to let fate decide and just believe in it." He then put his arm around her. "We can always take things slow and not rush things, Cyrus said gently. "I can't say much for the future but like every couple, we will face obstacles but we will get through them."

"Ok," she said with a smile. Cyrus then leaned over and kissed her softly. Once he pulled away, Cyrus was happy to see she was still smiling.

"There's a new Italian restaurant that just opened near Hudson, would you like to have dinner with me next week once I'm done with exams?"

"You're not supposed to do that." Cyrus suddenly felt worried he may have made a wrong move and panicked inside. "You can't ask a woman out after you kiss her."

"Oh I see. I didn't know that."

"It's ok. I like to break traditions."

A few nights later, Cyrus kept checking himself before heading out the door. He kept brushing his hair, adjusting his tie, collar and changing his shirt until he finally convinced himself he looked fine. On his way to Irene's apartment, Cyrus stopped by the flower shop to pick up a bouquet of dozen roses.

"Is this for the same woman?" the flower shop owner asked with a grin for Cyrus had been a frequent visitor to the shop when he was sending the flowers to Irene as a secret admirer.

"Yes it is," Cyrus answered happily. "Only this time I finally asked her out and she said yes."

"It's about time." Cyrus then paid the owner and returned back to his car. He soon reached her apartment and headed up to her door after parking his car. He pressed the doorbell and a few minutes later, Cyrus was greeted by a figure of beauty. Irene wore a ebony colored cocktail dress with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders that complimented her body. She wore her hair down in loose curls.

"Wow," Cyrus said breathlessly. "You look amazing."

"Thank you," Irene smiled.

"These are for you," Cyrus said handing her the roses.

"Oh how lovely! Thank you." She smelt the roses embracing its sweet scent. "I'll put them in water, then we'll leave." Cyrus nodded and smiled and followed her in. After placing the flowers in a vase, Irene grabbed her purse and they headed out for the restaurant.

"What do you mean there is no reservation under Cyrus Lupo. I specifically made one reservation dinner for two on Friday night at 7 pm. The person on the phone assured me a table has been reserved," Cyrus argued trying to stay calm.

"I'm sorry sir but we have no reservation under that name, the hostess repeated and re-checking her laptop.

"Is there any table available?" Cyrus asked.

"Sorry Mr. Lupo, we are booked for the night." Cyrus sighed in frustration not believing this was happening.

"I apologize for the mess," he said looking at Irene. "I just wanted tonight to be perfect."

"Cyrus, it's ok," Irene said placing a hand on his. "Why not we order some take out food? We can have it back at my place."

"All right," Cyrus said wishing he'd think of that first. He really wanted to treat Irene on a special night instead of her coming up with a solution to a problem. The hostess feeling bad about the mix-up assured their food would be delivered in less than an hour. 'At least a potential disaster was somewhat averted,' Cyrus thought. However, once they stepped out of the restaurant, the sky began to down pour. Cyrus immediately took off his jacket and wrapped it around Irene, covering her head. He took her hand and they ran to the car. Cyrus quickly opened for her, the passenger door first before heading to the driver's seat. While driving to her apartment, he quietly cussed to himself for not bringing an umbrella as the rain started pouring harder and harder hitting the windows of the car. Fortunately, Cyrus managed to park the car close to Irene's apartment door. They hurried inside and Irene took off his jacket and handed it back to Cyrus.

"Oh your dress is ruined," Cyrus said seeing part of her dress was still soaked despite the cover up.

"Not really, " Irene smiled. "I think your jacket kept it significantly dry. Besides it's easily washable." Irene turned on the lights to a dim brightness. She lit some candles and placed them on the coffee table.

"I'm going to change into some dry clothes," Irene said and headed into her room. Cyrus loosened and took off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt a bit. He then heard the door bell ring and saw it was the delivery person from the restaurant. After making a payment, Cyrus took the food and set them on plates he found in Irene's kitchen. Cyrus then placed the food on the coffee table just as Irene came out.

"Oh good the food is here. I am starving," Irene exclaimed. They then sat down on the floor of the living room and started eating. To Cyrus's relief and satisfaction, the food tasted delicious. "You know I am glad tonight turned out the way it did," Irene said after a while.

"You are?" Cyrus asked looking up at her.

"Yes, I'd rather have a quiet intimate dinner at home with you then in some crowded noisy restaurant," Irene admitted. "Besides tonight was kind of exciting and romantic."

"What do you mean?"

"Well when the rain started to pour, the way you immediately wrapped your coat around me and rushed us to your car, I thought it was a brave move."

"I wanted to make sure you did not get wet."

"And very thoughtful," Irene said placing a hand on his. Cyrus smiled in response. The evening turned out to be more joyous. They both found they shared an interest in music, theatre, traveling, books and helping people. After finishing dinner, Irene made coffee while Cyrus washed the dishes. Once Cyrus was done, they brought the coffee back to the living room. Cyrus and Irene were about to continue their conversation when Cyrus's phone started to beep. He sighed knowing it was a call to the crime scene just when the night got perfect. He looked up at Irene and she nodded with an understanding smile.

"I'm sorry."

"I know," she said softly. He drank his coffee down and gave Irene a quick kiss on the cheek before saying goodbye and rushing out.

Moments later, Cyrus and Kevin finished up examining the crime scene and were writing up the reports so far when Cyrus got a text. He picked up his phone and read the message.

Cyrus,

I had a gr8 time tonite. I hope we can go out again soon.

Irene

Cyrus smiled and closed his phone.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: I'm sorry for not updating as often as I want to. Grad school has been very demanding. Thank you for all your feedback and suggestions. I really appreciate it! So here is my Christmas treat to you!

Chapter 11

Since that night, Cyrus and Irene's relationship began to blossom. Cyrus tried to impress Irene on every single date. He would take her to the Metropolitan Art Museum followed by dinner at Nobu. The date after was a trip to the top of the Empire State Building. Irene, of course, found these gestures extremely flattering and romantic. But, she personally preferred simple more intimate evenings like renting a movie and eating pizza on the couch. Overall, Irene found Cyrus a very sweet and thoughtful gentleman especially when he did the smallest of gestures. He would call her every morning or buy her coffee and donuts before work. Irene tried to return the favors by bringing dinner over to his apartment when he would work late or walk Toby around the block.

They have also agreed to keep their relationship on the down low especially from Mike's knowledge. Only a small number of people knew about their relationship including Kevin Bernard. However, despite hiding their relationship, Mike could not help but notice Irene's change in attitude. He saw she was more open and confident. She also acted more energetic not to mention more cheerful. While it may have improved her work performance, Mike could not help but notice Irene leaving early when given the chance. Usually she would stay an hour or two later to get some extra work done. In addition, she would take long lunch breaks from time to time. Before, she would eat lunch at the office or go out to lunch with him and Jack to discuss an upcoming trial.

"Maybe there is a new man in her life," Connie suggested when Mike told her as they were having dinner at home.

"The girl should stay single and expand her career. Besides, she's 27, she's got time," Mike pointed out as he got up from the table and placed the dishes in the sink. "She has so much potential with her talent and intelligence. She should not let a man get in her way."

"Well look at you Mr. Feminist," Connie teased as she gave Esmeralda her bottle.

"I'm just worried that a possible relationship might affect her work in the long run," Mike simply stated as he started washing the dishes.

"Irene is a pretty independent woman to keep her professional and private life separate and set her own priorities." Once Esmeralda finished her bottle, Connie began burping her. She and Mike then decided to venture to the living room where Connie placed the baby in the playpen.

"She's growing up fast before my eyes," Mike said as they sat down on the love seat and watched their daughter play with her toys. When Connie requested her resignation from the DA's office when she got pregnant, part of him even wished to have that privilege or some sort of lengthy paternity leave to spend time with his daughter and watch her grow. He feared because of his job, they would have a very distant relationship especially since Jack voiced plans of retirement and Mike stepping in as DA. Jack had also told him how much his career cost his relationship between him and his daughters. Something Jack always regretted, clearly indicating he did not want the same thing to happen to Mike.

"Maybe you should take some time off work or devote a weekend to spend time with her," Connie said as if reading his mind. "And take it easy." Mike stared at Esmeralda for a moment before agreeing with his wife.

One late afternoon/early evening, Irene was busy catching up on paperwork. She was determined to finish this by 5 because she planned on inviting Cyrus over for dinner. She wanted to clean her place up and get the cooking starting early.

Mike soon popped his head into her office.

"Hey, one of our witnesses dropped out of our line-up. We need tonight to reorganize the whole case before the trial tomorrow afternoon," he announced. "I'll order Chinese." Irene sighed feeling her heart sink. After Mike left, she got out her phone and texted Cyrus.

Hi Cyrus,

I'm sorry. We have to cancel dinner tonight. I have to work late at DA

Irene

A few minutes later, she got a text back.

It's ok, Irene. We can do it tomorrow night.

Cyrus

Irene gave a small smile appreciating Cyrus's flexibility.

At around 11:30 pm, Irene finally arrived back at her apartment. Mike really wanted to make sure they had their case together to the last detail. He was picky about how to continue the course of the trial. He also kept changing his mind, which frustrated Irene at times. Mike especially wanted to make sure they did not leave out any evidence. By the time Mike was satisfied, all Irene wanted to do is crash her bed. But, when Irene opened the door, she noticed the room was filled with scented candles. The floors and tables were covered with red rose petals and she could hear music playing in the background. Cyrus soon appeared with two glasses of wine.

"Hey sweetheart," he greeted with a big grin on his face. Irene just stood there in shock. "I found your extra key under the welcome mat. I hope you don't mind that we could make up tonight…tonight. I brought your favorite dessert, apple spice cake from Flour."

"Oh," Irene sighed with a tired smile. "How can you be so..sweet?"

"Well a hardworking lady like you deserve it," Cyrus said as he helped her take off her jacket. Irene then kicked off her shoes before lying down with her back against the couch. Cyrus then handed her, a glass of wine and a plate of cake. He then settled beside her placing her feet on his lap.

"Hmm the cake is especially good today."

"Maybe they knew you had to work late so they baked it extra delicious as a reward," Cyrus suggested taking a bite out of his piece.

"Maybe," They then began discussing what went on during their day. Irene talked about the upcoming trial and ranted her frustrations on Mike's pickiness which changed their plans. Cyrus cheered her by telling her how he got a surprise visit from his niece and nephew. They had followed their mother to the precinct where Cyrus helped her get a job as a secretary. It was a take your kids to work day at their school. Irene smiled and nodded for she loved hearing about Cyrus talk about his nephew and niece. He clearly cared a great deal about them which made Irene wonder what type of father he would be.

'Father of your children?' her mind suddenly questioned her. 'Do you seriously picture the rest of your life with him? You just dated for less than year…I thought you want to take over Mike's job and eventually Jack's'. Irene immediately moved those thoughts away from her mind and continued listening to Cyrus.

About a half hour later, Irene felt groggy and her eyes began to droop. She soon let out a big yawn.

"I guess Mike really tired you out today," Cyrus said noticing her exhaustion.

"Yeah."

"Well I should get going so to let you sleep," Cyrus said getting up and blowing out the candles and throwing the rose petals in the trash.

"Cyrus?" Irene said as she rose from the couch.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for everything."


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Sorry for the long wait! I know this chapter is a bit short but I promise the next one will be longer. Keep the reviews coming!

Chapter 12

Irene was sitting in the conference room waiting for Jack and Mike to come in. Jack had informed them that he wanted to have a meeting noting some urgency. This made Irene wonder what could be the emergency. She soon began to worry whether Jack had found out about her and Cyrus. Maybe Mike caught them in the act or Lt. Van Buren must have seen them together. Irene knew they should have been more careful. Soon Mike and Jack entered the room.

"Mike has an announcement to make," Jack said nodding towards Mike. 'Ok here goes nothing,' Irene thought to herself. 'Prepare to fight for all you got.' But Mike's words took her into total surprise.

"I will be taking a pay leave," Mike declared.

"Oh," was all Irene could say. She was internally quite relieved.

"Connie's mother is diagnosed with a serious form of colon cancer. Her mother lives out in Los Angeles and Connie really wants to be there by her mother's side and help her and make sure she gets the best treatment possible," Mike explained.

"I see," Irene said sympathetically making a mental note to send Connie, a card.

"I plan to go with her so there is someone to take care of Esmeralda. Connie's mother also needs all the support she could get," Mike continued.

"And I fully support his decision," Jack added. "We already had a long conversation about this going over the pros and cons and agreed it would be best if he went with Connie in case something goes wrong."

"How long will you be gone?" Irene asked Mike as she tried to process all of this information.

"More than two months at least," Mike answered as he paced the room. Irene could sense anxiety and stress in Mike's tone and face. Irene could not help but wonder how Connie is holding up. She couldn't imagine the thought of the possibility of losing a mother when just becoming one and worrying how long her mother would be able to live, what the best treatments were possible and how much the costs and the insurance to cover those costs.

"Will we be getting a temporary DA until Mike returns?" Irene asked looking back at Jack.

"No," Jack simply answered. He then looked directly Irene with a serious look in his eyes. "You will be temporarily handling the cases as the main prosecutor. Mike has fully expressed his confidence in your capabilities and strongly believes you can step up to the plate." Irene looked from Jack to Mike not believing her ears. Mike gave a nod in response. "I couldn't agree more," Jack grinned.

Irene sat there in silence for a moment. 'Wow I actually have the opportunity to be in the full spotlight as District Attorney of Manhattan,' she thought in wonderment.

"Then I am up for the challenge," she said standing up with her hands on her hips.

"And to further assure Mike, you are in good hands, I will be stepping in to supervise and oversee the cases to make sure you are doing your job," Jack said winking at Mike. Mike just rolled his eyes and Irene couldn't help but giggle a little.

"That will be all for now," Jack declared dismissing the both of them. As Irene walked back to her office, it soon dawned on her how terrified she felt being placed in this new position.

'Am I truly qualified to do this?' she thought out loud.

Later Irene met up with Cyrus for lunch at Palador where she informed him of the news and confided him her fears.

"Think of it as your time to shine," Cyrus said as he took a bite of his taco.

"Oh believe me, I'm ecstatic at this opportunity and really want to show my talents to Jack."

"Then why are you so worried?"

"I just feel I am not ready for this. This past year or so, Mike has been a wonderful mentor to me despite his demands. He has really helped me grow and develop as a prosecutor."

"So this is your opportunity for you to show how much you have learned and that you can hold your own ground," Cyrus answered.

"What if I mess up? What if I screw up on a major case involving a serious murder committed by a publicly-known violent perpetrator?"

"That won't happen," Cyrus assured her. "You never let any little piece of evidence get pass you."

"What if I wrongly convict someone? And our office receives death threats?"

"That has not not happened before. Besides it's the jury's decision in the end." Irene sighed and looked down at her plate of her food. "What if we get exposed?"

"What do you mean?" Cyrus asked looking at her.

"I'm afraid that if I am the lead DA on these major criminal cases, our relationship could potentially be out in the open and put jeopardy to both our careers, "Irene pointed out. "And I don't want to damage your years on the force."

Cyrus paused before answering. He then reached for her hand and squeezed it.

"It's not going to happen. We are smart enough to keep our professional and personal lives separate. I trust you. We'll be fine."

"You always make things feel all right," Irene said with a smile.

"We'll just be one powerful couple in Manhattan that fights crime and put lay down the laws on criminals and obtain justice."

"I like the sound of that." They finished lunch before heading out.


	13. Chapter 13

AN: Sorry for the looong delay! I know this is way overdue. But I am happy to tell you I am done with school and will be updating frequently. Please review! I promise there'll be more steamy scenes!

Chapter 13

Once Mike and Connie left for California, Irene found herself acting as the central authoritative figure within the district attorney's office. She was the one that called the shots on warrants and how the trials were to be prosecuted. Although Jack was the main DA, he let Irene handle the final decisions, only providing guidelines and advice. This aspect definitely presented a different vibe from Mike who liked to take control of everything. However, this new position clearly put more work on her table. Fortunately, the paralegals in the office were willing to step up their game in helping her in any way.

Irene also found her roles changing in becoming the prominent spokesperson for the office particularly with reporters hounding her with questions and misperceptions about upcoming trials. Irene was especially grateful for Jack's support in providing old videos of him answering questions for her to take some pointers. She also watched past videos of Mike and how he dealt with the press.

With Mike gone, Irene's relationship with Cyrus was definitely being challenged rather than alleviated. The court cases have made Irene extremely busy, which didn't allow her to spend personal time with Cyrus. They did see each other during criminal investigations but nothing else beyond work. Fortunately, Cyrus was very compliant and understanding specifically when Irene had to cancel dates to focus on prosecutions. But, she always felt awful backing out at the last moment. Cyrus, nevertheless, kept assuring her it was ok and their dates could always be made up or postponed.

One evening, Irene was in her apartment, having one of those nights where she took work with her home. She couldn't figure out how to question a particular key witness on their connection with the defendant and prove his guilt. It had been bugging her all day. She was about to call Melissa, one of the paralegals, when an idea struck her and decided to dial another contact.

"Hi sweetheart, how are you?" Cyrus answered.

"I am good, just a little overwhelmed by the upcoming trial involving the murder at Radio City Music Hall."

"Oh what's the matter?"

"Well I am having a hard time figuring out how to question one of the key witnesses."

"I see."

"I was wondering if you could come over to help me out?" Irene asked. "If you are not busy that is."

"Don't you have the paralegals to assist you or you could ask Jack?" Cyrus teased. "Why would you want help from me?"

"Well I think I have worked the paralegals quite enough…and I don't want to ask Jack for help. Besides since you are in your last semester of law school, it would be useful to put your knowledge to the test."

"I figured as much," Cyrus smiled. "Should I grab Thai on the way?"

"Yes please."

"Okay I'll be there in 30."

"All right see you soon." Within that moment, Irene got up and immediately went to her mirror and made herself up and brushed her hair and straightened her clothes. She also cleaned up a bit and rearranged all the papers and documents that were sprawled across her coffee table and floor. She then heard the doorbell ring and immediately went to answer it.

"Hello," Cyrus greeted, he was holding two plastic bags of Thai food. Irene did not even respond. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a big long kiss on the lips. Cyrus mutually responded by putting down the bags and wrapped his arms around her body and kissed her back.

"Well that was an unexpected greeting," he grinned.

"I know. I just haven't seen you in a long time," Irene said looking up at him and placing her hands on his shoulders.

"I've missed you too." They pulled away as Irene led Cyrus inside. "Looks like you are well organized far from being frazzled about the case," he noted her coffee table.

"Oh yeah," Irene answered rather innocently. "I wanted to have things in order plus I didn't want food to go on the documents." She got some plates from the kitchen and transferred the food from the boxes. They decided to catch up with one another during dinner. After dinner, Irene began explaining her problems with the cases and showed Cyrus the documents.

"I see where you are lost," Cyrus answered as he examined the contents of each file.

"Oh you do?" Irene said who had lied down on the couch. She was clearly exhausted and worn out.

"Yeah you mixed up the names of two of the witnesses. I figured the witness's connection to the defendant. I remembered we interviewed her when Kevin and I were investigating. She was secretary and the secret lover to the victim. She also had an affair with the defendant when she changed her name."

"Ahh that's where I got confused. I must have overdosed on coffee to notice. Thanks for checking," Irene said getting up and began jotting down some notes before closing her notebook. She then lied back down on the couch.

"Well if you did catch that, I would not have come over and have dinner with you," Cyrus pointed out placing a hand on hers.

"That's true. I'm glad you came," Irene gave a small smile. "We haven't seen much of each other lately as I would like."

"As am I," Cyrus said leaning over to kiss her. The kiss soon intensified as Cyrus got on top of her and passion soon ignited. Moments later, Irene took Cyrus's hand and led him to the bedroom. She began to unbutton his shirt and he started slipping off her skirt. They were about to move forward when Cyrus paused. "Wait, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, more than anything," Irene said with a look of assurance in her eyes. Cyrus then picked her body up from the floor and laid her down on the bed. Irene then took off her blouse as Cyrus unzipped his pants. He soon got on top of her and started kissing her again and moving his mouth all over her body. His hands soon found the back of her bra, unhooked it and threw it on the floor. Irene could hear herself breathing heavily. As his hands moved down her waist, his hands then found her panties and slowly slipped that off her body. She could not help but notice how strong his muscles really were against her body. Irene started peeling Cyrus's boxers off his waist and down his legs. They then continued to make love into the night and ended up falling deep asleep hours later in each other's arms.

The next morning, Irene woke up to the smell of pancakes and coffee. As she adjusted herself on the bed, pulling the sheets up to cover her body, Cyrus walked in with a tray.

"What's this?" Irene asked, her eyes widening at the plate of food, not believing Cyrus made the effort to wake up before her and cook her breakfast.

"A little something I conjured up with what was in your kitchen to reward you for your hard work," Cyrus answered.

"How could you be so sweet?" she gushed. "I should be rewarding you for being so patient with me and dealing with my unpredictability."

"I just am. Besides you're worth it." Cyrus and Irene kissed before settling down for breakfast. They decided to eat in silence and enjoy each other's company, savoring their precious moments together. Then out of the blue, Cyrus said those magic three words.

"I love you." Irene put her coffee down and stared at Cyrus for what seemed like a long time, not believing her ears.

"What?"

"I love you," he repeated but this time with more assertion and meaning. Irene was completely speechless, not knowing how to respond. Cyrus kept his eyes on her, waiting for her to say it back. He placed a hand on hers as if giving some encouragement. She was about to say something when Cyrus's cell-phone rang and he winced to see the caller-id was Kevin, probably calling him to a crime scene. He looked back up at Irene and Irene sighed and nodded knowing the call. She then gave a look as if saying it can wait. Cyrus then got up and threw his clothes on and exited her apartment.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After meeting with the M.E., Lupo and Bernard returned to the precinct to wait for the reports to come from the crime lab. Despite the amount of the paper work on his desk, Cyrus's mind still drifted to Irene. He started to wander whether he expressed his love too fast and should have waited longer. He also could not help but wonder if he had not gotten the call, would she have said the words back to him. Or was she going to say something else?

"Are you all right there Lupes?" Kevin asked interrupting his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh…I spent the night at Irene's."

"Oh," Kevin said as he leaned across from his desk with such keen interest like a school boy.

"Well I'm not going pour out the details for you. You can just leave that up to your imagination." Kevin made a face pretending to look disappointed.

"So what seems to be the problem?"

"I told her I loved her," Cyrus answered simply.

"Awe that's so sweet," Kevin said mockingly. "Did she say it back?"

"No…not exactly. She was going to tell me something but I got the call to the crime scene." Kevin nodded as he listened to his partner. "Now I am just feeling anxious about whether it is 'I love you back' or a rejection."

"I am sure whatever she wants to tell you, it gave her a good reason to come to the precinct, "Kevin said nodding his head towards the back of Cyrus. Cyrus turned around to see Irene walking towards him carrying a picnic basket.

"Hi there," she greeted with a smile.

"Hello Ms. Frey, what a surprise to see you here. We have not submitted a request for a warrant," Kevin said teasingly and nudging Cyrus.

"I know you haven't. You have barely interviewed any suspects," Irene answered. "I was hoping to take your partner out for lunch if you can spare him an hour."

"You would have to check with our lieutenant since she is our boss," Kevin told her. "But I'm sure she can live without Cyrus's assistance for an hour and I'll let her know." Cyrus then got up and took Irene's free hand and they headed out of the building. The couple made their way to a nearby park and found a shady spot to have their picnic.

"Ok, I'll admit that I did not make the lunch. I picked them up at the nearest deli close to my office," Irene said as they sat down. "It's not up to the breakfast you served this morning."

"Either way, I appreciate the thought," Cyrus grinned as they ate their sandwiches.

"Well it's also a way to show you that I…love you," Irene said more slowly making sure Cyrus heard every word. He smiled with his eyes brightening, indicating that he did. "And I love the fact that you do all these little but kind gestures to make me happy like making breakfast in bed or taking me out to dinner. No man has ever treated me like that," she then went on.

"I love you too, Irene" he replied back. He then leaned over and kissed her. They shared an extremely passionate kiss, not noticing what was happening around them until Irene's cell phone rang. They immediately broke apart and Irene picked up her phone. She was instantly caught off guard when she saw Mike's name on her ID list.

"Hi Mike," she answered picking up.

"Hi Irene. How are you?"

"I am…good. How's everything going in California?"

"Going well. Connie's mother's health is improving tremendously especially with the treatment she's been getting."

"That's great. Connie must be so relieved."

"Yes she's definitely been able to sleep better. The doctor even assured Connie and her mother that she could be fully recovered and be cancer-free in a matter of a few months."

"Wonderful. Send Connie and her mother, my regards."

"Will do. This also means I will be coming back on Monday to the office since Connie is now able to take care of both Esmeralda and her mother."

"Oh," Irene said taken aback with the news. "Well I'm sure Jack will be happy to see your face back in the office."

"Really? I've been hearing from Jack you've been doing a great job."

"I can definitely tell you that the office is not the same without you."

"Why thank you. I will see you on Monday." They said goodbye and hung up. Cyrus could tell Irene was not too thrilled about Mike returning by the response look on her face.

"Looks like we'll have to savor every moment this weekend and go back to sneaking around on Monday," Cyrus sighed squeezing her hand.

"Yeah." And Cyrus made sure they did. Later that evening, they went to dinner at the restaurant where they had got food for their first date, but Cyrus actually got a table this time around. After dinner, Cyrus took Irene to the movie theatre. They watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. They stopped for ice cream before going back to her apartment and making love into the night. The next day, Irene packed another picnic lunch and Cyrus drove them down to Rockaway Beach. They spent the day walking along the waves barefoot and holding hands. Upon returning to her apartment, Irene and Cyrus ordered pizza and stayed in for the night. On Sunday, Cyrus took Irene to meet his sister-in-law, Jenny and her two kids and had dinner with his family for the first time since his mom, Mary was in town. While at their house, Irene could clearly see Cyrus had a strong connection with his family.

Even though Cyrus clearly inherited his looks from his father, Irene could tell bits of his personality came from his mother. She could also tell they shared a very special bondage. From her other observations, Cyrus was very close to his nephew and niece, Shane and Keavy, which made up for their father's absence. He truly cared about their well-being and that the children had a strong figure looking out for them. Irene was helping Jenny with coffee and dessert in the kitchen when she decided to strike a conversation.

"Your kids really admire their uncle," Irene said to his sister.

"Yeah. He was first to come to our side when my husband committed suicide, of course, he was the head detective of the case. Since then, the kids kind of latched onto him," Jenny replied. "My boy, Shane especially looks up to him."

"I can tell," Irene said looking into the next room to see Cyrus having a conversation with his mom while playing with Shane and Keavy.

"Even though I appreciate Cyrus spending time with my kids, I always hoped he would find someone to make him happy and maybe along those lines have kids of his own so my kids can have cousins." Irene knew where Jenny was getting at and just nodded in response. "Especially since I'm getting re-married."

"He seems pretty focused on his job and getting his law degree," Irene stated. "Don't know if Cyrus will ever find the time to settle down and start a family."

"I don't know if you know this but I think since Cyrus has met you, his goals seemed to change in regards to planning for a family of his own."

Meanwhile, Cyrus was in deep conversing with his mother.

"You seem to be doing well for yourself Cyrus," Mary observed.

"Thanks Mom. I still can't believe I'm at my last year of law school and am senior detective on the NYPD. I've worked pretty hard."

"I meant the lovely lady in the adjoining room," Mary hinted.

"Mom, there's more to Irene than her looks."

"I know. So what exactly do you love about her?"

"Besides being a charming beautiful lady, I love how she is independent and hard working, very focused on her professional career and being the best she could be. At the same time, she is very caring and supportive and a great listener. We care about and like similar things."

"Sounds like she is a keeper."

Later that evening as Cyrus was driving Irene back home, he noticed she was very quiet. He then reached for her hand and squeezed it.

"My sister and my mom really liked you," Cyrus said breaking the silence.

"And I liked them too," Irene said with a small smile facing him before turning to the window.

"Is something bothering you?" he asked concerned. Irene paused before she asked.

"Have you ever thought about…us in the future?"

"Sure I have, "Cyrus wondered where she was getting at and whether it had to with her conversation with Jenny in the kitchen. "Why?"

"Jenny told me that since we started dating that you have changed your thoughts about getting married and starting a family at an earlier time."

"Oh," Cyrus understanding her behavior. "Well I know that our relationship is still progressing and I know you don't want to move too fast because you want to accomplish certain things in your life. So I know those plans won't be happening any time soon in the near future." Irene then turned to face him. "I just meant that since I met you, my goals and ambitions in life have changed."

"Ok good," Irene sighed in relief.


	15. Chapter 15

AN: I apologize for the delay. I had some writing block issues with this chapter.

Chapter 15

As Irene and Cyrus's relationship continued to blossom, they slowly decided to be open about their relationship. They started going on double dates with Bernard and his girlfriend. However, they both decided to not disclose their relationship to their bosses just yet until the time is right. Irene also introduced him to her parents when they were in New York for the week. To Irene's relief, Cyrus gave a strong positive impression to both her mom and dad. Within a week, they gave her, their full approval of him before they returned to California. They also extended an invitation to Cyrus to visit them out west whenever Irene went home for the holidays.

One day, Anita Van Buren was doing her grocery shopping at a local grocer that happened to be outside across the street from the DA office. When she finished her shopping and rang it up, Anita spotted Cyrus standing outside the building holding a bouquet of roses with his part of his back facing her.

"I wonder who is the lucky lady," Anita wandered with a smile as she observed one of her police officers. Finally the mystery woman came out the door and she was none other than Irene Frey, the ADA. Anita's eyes widened in shock as Cyrus and Irene embraced and kissed. "I thought it was just a crush…not an actual serious relationship," Anita said to herself. She wondered how long their relationship had been going on while she watched Cyrus hand Irene, the flowers and took her hand in one hand and took her briefcase in the other and walked away.

"These roses are beautiful. I always love when you buy me flowers," Irene said smelling the bouquet absorbing its sweet aroma.

"Well I noticed the last bouquet I bought for you was slowly dying so I thought your apartment needed some sprucing up," he said kissing her cheek. They got into his car and drove towards her apartment.

"So how was your day?" Irene asked noting Cyrus appeared to have a lot on his mind.

"No so good," Cyrus admitted.

"Oh?" She said placing a hand on his free hand.

"We just arrested a woman, Jessie Ross. I had previously put her in jail a few years back."

"Why was she in jail before?"

"Major illegal drug dealings," Cyrus answered. "She was put in his jail for five years before being released."

"And why was she re-arrested?" Irene asked

"She murdered her two children," Cyrus answered.

"Wow. She clearly still contained some rage against them."

"We actually used her children as witnesses to testify against her. This was an act of revenge."

"Do you know who the lead DA is on the case?"

"Casey Novak. At arraignment, she charged Ross with 2 counts of murder in the first degree. Ross is held with bail set at 2 million."

"Well Casey is a tough lawyer and I am confident that she will put Ross back in jail for her terrible actions."

"Ross has loyal people on the outside and is still notably powerful and influential. Plus I think she has developed some agony against me."

"Why do you think so?"

"I was the lead detective during the search warrant, investigations and interrogation and testified against Ross."

"I'm sure with the amount of evidence against her, Ross has no chances of walking and go back to where she belongs."

"I hope so too," Cyrus sighed squeezing Irene's hand.

"When is the first day of trial?" Irene asked.

"Tomorrow at 9 am."

"I'll try to make it if I don't have anything planned," Irene said.

"I appreciate the support," Cyrus smiled at her. They soon arrived at Irene's apartment. Cyrus started dinner while Irene showered. As Cyrus was boiling the pasta, he could hear Irene singing in the shower. 'I could get used to this,' he thought to himself. Dinner was ready as soon as Irene came out of the shower.

"Something smells good," she said as she finished drying her hair with a towel.

"Well I hope the pasta tastes as good as it smells. I got the recipe off line," Cyrus replied as he placed the two plates on the table.

"You're becoming quite the cook," Irene marveled sitting down.

"That's because I have someone to cook for who will show her appreciation," he said pouring the two glasses of water. The couple decided to have a peaceful dinner and leave all discussions of work off the table.

The next morning, Irene quietly snuck into the courtroom as Casey was about to try Jessie Ross. She sat in the back as Judge Pearson called the court to order, spotting Cyrus and Kevin sitting near the front of the courtroom. Irene also managed to catch a glimpse of Jessie as the suspect turned around to greet her supporters. Her hair was dark brown and buzz cut short. She wore thick black glasses and was sporting a black suit. She had a sharp nose and cold blue eyes which sent chills through Irene's own body. Irene wondered what could possibly motivate this woman to become so ruthless and do such horrible crimes to people most close to her.

Irene then looked over to see who was representing Jessie. To her surprise, it was her former Albany classmate, Dana Preston. She now worked as a Junior Partner at one of the top law firms in New York, Specter-Litt and was its rising star. Irene and Dana had a few classes together but did not really hang out after classes and had their own separate group of friends. Also, Dana was a year ahead of her. Irene recalled Dana would always sit in the front of class and would take any prompt and make her strong arguments and she was a tough challenger. Dana especially brought her talents to mock trials and won every trial. Her specialty was women's issues, for Dana was a passionate feminist. Irene then began to wonder what interested her in Jessie Ross's case as Casey began her opening statement.

During the trial, Irene watched as Casey began calling each of her witnesses and Dana every one of them. Even though she despised her client, Irene could not help but be impressed by Dana's performance in the court. She really admired by how Dana's strategy in utilizing her passion during her questioning, a tactic she consistently used back in law school. In fact, she was impressed by how both women orchestrated their arguments and directed their questions in court. Both lawyers appeared well-matched.

About two hours later, Judge Pearson decided to call a half hour break for lunch before Casey was about to call Cyrus to the stand. People then stood up and quietly exited the court room. When Irene got out, she decided to wait for Casey to complement her performance. She knew waiting for Cyrus would make her look suspicious especially in a public court. Dana came out of the court first and spotted and immediately recognized Irene and walked up to her.

"Hi Irene, good to see you," Dana greeted as the two women briefly hugged.

"Good to see you too," Irene returned. "I see you've came a long way since Albany making a name for yourself with joining Specter-Litt. I always knew you would end up somewhere great especially with your talents."

"And so have you joining the Manhattan District Attorney's office under Jack McCoy."

"I think we both made our alma mater proud."

"Yes I completely agree. Anyways I've got to go talk to my client. We should catch up," Dana said. They said goodbye and Dana exited the courthouse.

Casey soon came out carrying her briefcase.

"Casey, great trial so far," Irene said walking up to her.

"Thank you Irene. It's nice of you to come support me," Casey smiled.

"You definitely put up a good fight against Preston," Irene added.

"She is one tough woman. I definitely have my work cut out for me," Casey admitted. Then all of a sudden, Casey's face looked a bit dazed as she put a hand on her forehead, feeling the heat.

"Casey, are you all right?" Irene asked concerned.

"Yeah..I'm," then all of a sudden Casey fainted and fell to the floor. Everyone in the lobby immediately ran to Casey's side. Soon, an ambulance was called and Casey was taken to the hospital. Judge Pearson then decided to postpone the trial temporarily.

Later that day, Irene was looking over some documents when Mike popped his head in.

"Jack would like to see us in his office," he informed. Irene nodded as she got up from her seat and made her way to Jack's office.

"Glad to see you both here on this short notice," Jack said as both Mike and Irene sat down. "I want you to prosecute the Jessie Ross case."

"What about Casey?" Irene asked concerned, having witnessed Casey's fainting spell.

"Casey is fine, nothing fatal," Jack assured her. "Apparently she has suffered from dehydration, dizziness, and a high fever probably from being overworked combined with stress and the heat we've been having from the unusually high temperature weather. The doctor said she'll be fine within a week or so. But I think she needs to stay off her feet for a while and recuperate. I visited her in the hospital and told her despite her many protests that I'm taking her off the case and putting you guys on it."

"But Jack, I thought we were going to prosecute the hate crime case in Hudson University," Irene pointed out.

"I have put David Hayden on that case," Jack replied. "I feel both of you would be the right pair for the Ross case. Besides I strongly believe we have a strong case and Judge Pearson has given us a week. And Irene, you should have some knowledge about the case by now since you were at the trial this morning."

"Well…I came..to support Casey," Irene answered carefully.

"You seemed really interested in the case. I was watching from the back," Jack said.

"The defendant happened to be represented by my former Albany classmate. She is a strong proponent of women's rights."

"Good you know her tactics, more to our favor," Jack said as he clapped his hands.

Irene sighed knowing it was no use arguing against Jack. She would now have to face her fellow Albany alum in court.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Irene and Mike spent the long week re-prepping the case. Fortunately, Casey left a big file of detailed notes, making their work significantly easier. The day of the trial soon arrived. Irene was sitting outside the courtroom in the early hours with Cyrus. They decided to go over the questions and prep for Cyrus's testimony.

"How are you feeling?" Irene asked after they finished the last question.

"Nervous actually," Cyrus admitted.

"But you've done this more than a dozen times," Irene said with a comforting smile.

"I know. It's just this case was particularly close to me," Cyrus sighed. Irene then took his hand and squeezed it.

"It's going to be all right. Just answer the questions as you normally would," Irene suggested.

"Thanks. I'm so glad to have you in my life," Cyrus said smiling at her and squeezing her hand back.

"Me too," Irene replied softly. They shared a little moment of enjoying each other's company until they heard someone straighten their throat.

"Hello Irene," Dana greeted as both Cyrus and Irene looked up and pulled their hands away.

"Hi Dana. You're here quite early, " Irene said clearly thrown off by Dana's sudden appearance.

"Well I like to come early to prepare for my performance. Apparently you do too," Dana observed looking at Irene and Cyrus.

"We were going over the trial procedure," Cyrus responded.

"Hmm I can see that," Dana said with a rather conniving grin. Irene felt her face turning red.

"I'm going to the bathroom, "she said standing up and making her way.

"Oh let me join you," Dana said quickly walking with her. Irene rolled her eyes and groaned on the inside as both women entered the ladies' room. Once inside, they started reapplying their make-up. "So you and the Detective? You seem pretty close."

"We do work professionally together on criminal cases," Irene answered matter-of-a-fact.

"Really? Do you ever spend time outside of work?" Dana asked curiously.

"Yes to celebrate a victory of winning a case along with Mike and his Detective Lupo's partner, Detective Bernard," Irene said.

"Anything beyond that?" Irene thought for a moment before answering. "I mean I saw the way you looked at him and the way he was holding your hand, "Dana continued to point out.

"Dana, I think you should be more concerned on making sure your client gets a fair trial and obtains justice when in a courtroom," Irene finally stated before heading out of the bathroom. Checking her cellphone, she still had 15 minutes before the trial was to start. She then decided to go out of the courthouse for some air. To her relief, Dana hadn't followed her. Irene took a deep breath and stretched a little. She later felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Cyrus standing behind her.

"Are you okay?" Cyrus asked.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"No," Irene admitted. "Dana caught us together and was bothering me with questions about our relationship outside the office."

"And what did you say?" Cyrus said concerned.

"I told her to F off."

"That's my girl," Cyrus smiled kissing her on the forehead.

"I knew her from law school, Dana was a year ahead of me. It's just her tactic to intimidate because she would do anything to win," Irene warned. "She would try to do anything to make her opponents suffer. That's how she won mock-trial back in Albany."

"Thanks for the warning." Soon the trial began. So far the trial went smoothly with Mike succeeding triumphantly in the prosecution portion and overriding every one of Dana's objections. Finally Cyrus took the stand and proceeded to take Mike's questions. Irene took a deep breath once Mike finished and Dana began her cross-examination. She first started questioning Cyrus's involvement with the investigation in general and how he came to issue an arrest the defendant. 'Hmm, maybe she won't badger him,' Irene thought. But then she was wrong.

"Detective Lupo, do you consider yourself a good detective of judgment and trustworthiness?" Dana questioned as she paced the floor.

"Objection! Relevance?" Mike protested.

"Detective, how often do you communicate with the district attorneys regarding this case or in cases in general?"

"When it is needed such as search warrants and arrest warrants and interviewing witnesses," Cyrus answered carefully.

"So you must have a very good relationship with the district attorney's office," Dana continued, with emphasis on the word, relationship.

"Yes. We work collaboratively to ensure we bring the victims to justice especially with this case," Cyrus said trying to turn the questions back to Jessie Ross.

"Right. You have a great professional relationship and you would not do anything to tarnish it," Dana stated.

"Objection! Relevance?" Mike protested clearly frustrated.

"Sustained. Ask a question, Ms. Preston," the Judge ordered.

"You would not let a personal relationship or anything outside your work affect your professional relationship with the district attorney's office or even your own emotions/feelings," Dana stated. "Especially with this case?"

"I would not," Cyrus answered clearly annoyed with the questions.

"Particularly your personal relationship…with ADA Frey," Dana answered causing the court room to stir even Jessie the defendant. Mike looked over to Irene who felt her face turned red as she placed her eyes on the floor. " Your relationship would not affect her decision in taking this case with hesitance or urge to help you fight your battles…cause that's what couples do," Dana responded with a conniving smile. "And develop some sort of biasness towards the case against the defendant."

"Objection! Where is this going?" Mike standing up.

"Sustained. I'm not amused with this charade, Ms. Preston," the Judge commented.

"Withdrawn. I have no further questions," Dana stated sitting back down.

Later in the district attorney's office,

"What was that about?" Mike demanded as he and Irene entered his room.

"I don't know. She totally went off-guard," Irene said. "She saw us earlier this morning going over the trial and must have thought we had something going on to come up with those ideas."

"I see," Mike said folding his arms. "Were you just going over questions?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Well she did see me holding his hand. "

"Holding his hand?"

"I was just comforting him. He was feeling nervous," Irene said.

"I see. Can you tell me now if there is a personal relationship between the two of you?" Mike asked with a serious look on his face.

"You actually believe her?" Irene asked in disbelief, fighting back her nervousness. "My work performance should not be judged by who I date even if it is a police officer."

"No. But I want some transparency before moving forward so it won't influence future trials," Mike said. Irene sighed and realized she may as well come clean now.

"Yes," Irene said looking at Mike directly.

"How long has this been going on?" Mike asked, his eyes widening in disbelief. Part of him did not expect her to say yes. He suspected Cyrus had a crush on her but he didn't expect Irene would go along with it.

"About more than a year."

"Does Lt. Van Buren know about your relationship?"

"No. Very few people know. But we made sure to keep our professional separate from the personal," Irene said. "We are well aware of how it would have affected this office and the homicidal department. We are very careful."

Mike sighed not knowing what to think or say.

"Let's just go over the defense portion," he finally stated.

Later that night, Irene was watching TV in her apartment, relaxing her mind, when she heard the door knock. She got up to answer the door to see Cyrus standing on the other side. She greeted him with a kiss before inviting him in.

"How are you feeling?" Irene asked. "Dana was pretty ruthless on your testimony."

"I'm alright. How are you?" Cyrus said taking her hand and squeezing it.

"I had to come clean about our relationship to Mike," Irene revealed.

"What? Why?" Cyrus said in shock that she didn't consult him first.

"I was under pressure. He confronted me in our office," Irene pointed out. "I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't lie."

"You could have said none of your business and then consulted me," Cyrus said letting go of her hand.

"I'm sorry," Irene said seeing Cyrus was clearly frustrated. "I had so little time to think of what to do. I know I should have came to you first." Cyrus sighed and got up from the couch and stared out the window, folding his arms. Irene came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. Cyrus then unfolded his arms and placed them on hers.

"I forgive you." He then turned to face her. "We'll get through this."

Fortunately, Irene and Mike managed to fight back during the defense trial and rebuttal with strong questions in illustrating their argument. As a result, Jessie Ross was founded guilty on all charges and sent to prison. Irene was personally happy and satisfied of the fact that she had actually beaten Dana Preston in a real court trial.

She was packing her work bag when Denise informed her that Jack wanted to meet with her in his office.

"Yes Jack?" Irene said making her way to his office, noting Mike was in the office.

"Have a seat," Jack motioned. Irene sat down, thinking time to face the music. "It has come to my attention that the Special Victims Unit have a shortage of district attorneys."

"Oh?" Irene said not expecting these words, wondering where this was going.

"So I have decided after watching your work performance these past few months to temporarily move you to Special Victims." Irene just stared at him surprised, clearly not expecting this announcement. At first, Irene was glad she was not fired. But then she began to wonder whether Jack decided to move her over to SVU because of her personal relationship with Cyrus.

"But what about Mike? Will someone be helping him with homicide trials?"

"A paralegal will temporarily be assisting him in preparing the cases and I've asked one of the associates to be his second chair," Jack answered. Irene nodded taking it all in.

"Besides I think your talents will truly shine in SVU."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Do you think I made the right choice?" Jack asked Mike. They decided to go out for drinks together after work.

"I think so. It's time for her to step up her game and demonstrate leadership," Mike answered. "It's better than suspending her and losing one of the best legal minds New York has yet to see."

"I was definitely not going to suspend her," Jack clarified.

"I know you won't. Besides this time apart will be good for them…and for us too," Mike added.

The next Monday, Irene began her work with SVU. She was introduced to the squad by Captain Cragen. Irene immediately could tell SVU carried a different dynamic than homicide considering that most of their victims were still alive and traumatized by the crime put upon them. Working at SVU definitely made her busy being the main district attorney. She found herself taking more paperwork and at the same time, setting up meetings and working with the squad on the cases. From Irene's point of view, she found the cases at SVU more challenging, and at times unpredictable, than at homicide especially those cases when the victims were still alive and their willingness on whether or not they wanted to testify against their attacker.

However, Irene quickly clicked with members of squad especially Sergeant Munch, Detective Rollins, and Detective Tutuola. Even though the squad had gone through many different DAs, Detective Benson was willing to take Irene under her wing and familiarize her with the squad, their proceedings, and how they work. In contrast, Detective Amaro appeared a bit standoffish and not as welcoming. Irene then learned from Benson that he was experiencing some personal family issues and had a bad incident with their last case and got into a heated argument with the previous DA. So it would take him awhile to open up.

Her new position, however, definitely took a toll on Cyrus and their relationship. Because she had to work late and was constantly on call due to major changes with the court cases, they were not able to spend time together. Irene would often times cancel dates on the last minute if they were significant changes in the case such as a new witness or if something happened to the victim the night before the trial. Irene often felt bad for doing that to Cyrus. Cyrus constantly told her it was ok but at times, it got frustrating. Because of this, both of them felt their relationship was losing its spark, however, neither of them wanted to admit it to the other person.

Irene was in her new office looking over the case files when Olivia knocked on her door and stepped in. "Hey, do you have those warrants, I requested?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," Irene got up from her desk and going to her cabinet and pulled out some documents. "Here," she said handing them to Olivia.

"Thanks. Rollins and I are going out to grab a bite to eat. Do you want to join us?"

"Oh I'd love to but..," Irene was about to answer when she heard another door knock, causing both her and Olivia to turn their heads to see Cyrus standing outside the office. "Oh hi Cyrus."

"Hi Irene…Detective Benson," Cyrus greeted not expecting to see Olivia in the office.

"Hello Detective Lupo," Olivia said returning the greeting, clearly surprised herself.

"You ready to go?" Cyrus said then turning back to face Irene.

"Yeah. I just need to grab my coat," Irene nodded.

"Ok. I'll wait outside by the car." He said goodbye to Olivia and left the room.

"I'm sorry Olivia, maybe next time," Irene said once Cyrus was out of the room. She then began packing up her briefcase.

"A word of advice, counselor," Olivia said in a firm voice. "Yes?" Irene said feeling nervous about what Olivia was about to say.

"I'm talking from experience here. Don't mix work with pleasure," Olivia stated bluntly.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Irene said trying not to look Olivia in the eye.

"Don't pretend, come on. I'm well aware about your involvement with Detective Lupo. That's why you were transferred to SVU."

"I'm perfectly capable of keeping my professional life separate from personal life," Irene stated confidently, finally looking up and facing Olivia. "Thank you."

"Look. I was once involved with a DA and while it was great, we had to end the relationship because as our relationship progressed, the personal began to entwine with the professional. I know it's hard but it's something you have to live with," Olivia said tucking the files under arms. "Think about it." She then said good night and left the room. Irene just stood there and thought for a moment for Olivia's words really hit hard. She then decided to brush it off for now and turned off the lights and exited her office.

A few days later, Irene finally had a full Saturday off so she decided to go out shopping. She really needed some new clothes especially with the seasons changing. Irene was about leave her building when someone carrying a big box bumped right into her, causing the topmost contents of the box to fall out.

"Woh!" Irene reacted because it was quite a surprise and the bump was pretty hard but did not cause any pain.

"I'm so sorry," replied a very British-accented male voice behind the box. "Are you hurt?" The man then put his box down on the floor and began picking up the items.

"Not really," Irene answered. "Here," she kneeled down to help the box carrier put the items back in the box.

"I must have overpacked more than this box or I can handle," he answered.

"Well it happens to all of us," Irene smiled.

"Yeah again, I apologize," the gentleman finally looked up. Irene couldn't help but be taken aback. He had the clearest and most beautiful set of blue eyes Irene had ever seen. His hair was a light shade of brown with clean side burns. He also had nice cheek bones and a cute little nose.

"It's fine," Irene finally said as they both got to their feet.

"I'm Matt. Matt Devlin," he introduced himself. "I just moved here to apartment 4A."

"I'm in 5A so I'm just the floor above," Irene replied. 'And you're not a looking bloke to live above from,' Irene thought.

"Cool! Well it was nice to meet you Irene. I better get unpacking," Matt said.

"Nice meeting you too, Matt."


	18. Chapter 18

AN: Hope you are enjoying the crossovers with Law and Order SVU and Law and Order UK. More to come! I promise! Please Review!

Chapter 18

Irene was in the middle of folding laundry when she heard a knock on the door. Upon looking through the key hole, she smiled to see Matt standing on the other side.

"Hello Matt," Irene greeted as she opened the door

"Hi Irene, are you busy tomorrow?"

"No I'm not. Why?"

"I don't have many friends since I just moved here. You're actually the first acquaintance I've made and I was wondering if you could show me around the neighborhood," Matt asked. "I'll treat you to lunch after."

"Well…" Irene hesitated noting she barely knew him except for occasionally saying hi around the building.

"Please, it's my way of apologizing for bumping into you with my big box of crap," Matt pleaded. Irene laughed.

"I'd be happy to," Irene finally replied.

The next day, Irene gave Matt, a tour around Manhattan and familiarized him with the subway system, the nearest grocery stores, the best restaurants and how to get to Times Square and Rockefeller Center. They ended up stopping at Red Rooster in Harlem for lunch.

"So Matt, what brings you here to New York from across the pond?" Irene asked curiously. Matt was silent for a moment.

"I'm actually on witness protection," he answered looking serious.

"Oh?" Irene asked raising an eyebrow, now starting to wonder about Matt's true identity and whether he seemed like a trustworthy and genuine person.

"Back in London, I'm a copper…what you here call policeman. During one of our high profile cases, I was shot by a hit man hired by the drug lord we convicted while we were releasing an innocent man out of jail. Fortunately, the gun shot missed my heart. I managed to survive surgery and made a full recovery. But my lieutenant was strongly concerned about my safety because we didn't know how many hit men were actually recruited. She then ordered that I'd be placed in witness protection despite my protests and my years on the force. My partner even told me it was the best solution, better I'd be alive then be at risk. He also made me see it as a long vacation."

"Sounds like you had a good partner," Irene observed

"He was more like a father-figure type mentor," Matt admitted. "He always keeps calling me son whenever we were on rounds together, probably because he never had any boys of his own."

"I see. So why did you pick New York of all places? If I had the choice, I would pick some secluded tropical island." Matt laughed.

"I did spend a month in Belize but after a while, I got quite bored so I requested to be transferred here. I thought New York would be close an environment to London."

"Well I can tell you that no one is going to be able to find you in this city of millions of New Yorkers," Irene assured him. They finished lunch and headed back to Manhattan.

"Thank you again, Irene for showing me around," Matt said once they reached his apartment.

"Your welcome. If you need anything or have any questions or concerns, you have my number," Irene said handing him, her business card.

"Great thanks," Matt said briefly scanning at it before looking back at Irene.

"Have a good night," she finally said before heading back up.

"Night." Matt went into his apartment and took one good look at Irene's card. "Assistant district attorney for Manhattan," he read. "Looks like I just found me one powerful woman," he said to himself with a smile.

Bernard and Lupo had just entered the precinct when the lieutenant called them into her office. When they entered the office, they noticed a man they have not seen before.

"Detectives, this is Matt Devlin. He is a detective sergeant all the way from London's Scotland Yard homicide division. He came here to observe our tactics and procedures on assignment, "Anita introduced. "D.S. Devlin, these are two of my best detectives, Cyrus Lupo and Kevin Bernard."

"Please to meet you both," Matt greeted shaking both their hands. "Your lieutenant speaks highly of you."

"Oh really?" Bernard said looking at Anita. "She rarely says that to our faces." Anita just rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Detectives, I believe you have a case to follow up and I'm sure you can update D.S. Devlin," Anita said changing the subject and immediately dismissing the detectives. The three gentlemen then exited her office.

"So how long have you served Scotland Yard?" Cyrus asked.

"Almost 10 years since I left the police academy," Matt answered.

"Is this your first posting outside London?" Kevin asked.

"Yes," Matt nodded.

"Well I hope you enjoy your stay and find it productive," Cyrus said. They soon updated Matt on the current crime being examined, a young waitress shot outside the parking lot near the diner where she worked with no robbery attempted. They took Matt to the M.E.'s office to examine the body and the crime lab to assess the bullets shot before heading to the diner to speak with the diner's owner. When they returned to the precinct, both Matt and Cyrus spotted Irene walking out of Anita's office. "Cyrus…Matt?" she said questioningly looking from Cyrus to Matt, shocked to see both of them…together. "What are you doing here?" Cyrus's eyes widened wondering how did Irene know Matt's name.

"Funny to run into you again," Matt said smiling at her. "One other reason why I'm here is my lieutenant thought I could take advantage of learning the tactics of the NYPD and apply them when I get back to London."

"I see. You are definitely learning from the best," Irene said, Cyrus noting the professional tone in her voice. "I know because I handled the majority of the cases they brought to my desk and they were always up to par."

"Ahh," Matt remarked looking from Irene to Cyrus.

"Well I have a meeting with Jack so I have to go." She said goodbye before leaving. Cyrus could not help but notice Matt still staring along at her as she walked out of the building.

Later after work, the men stopped by Zeke's, the local bar for a drink, and traded their stories of being on the job. After a while , Matt finally decided to change the subject.

"So do you still work closely with Irene?" Matt asked. "Um…we used to," Cyrus answered after a pause. "She has transferred to Special Victims Unit so we do not work with her as often anymore. And how do you know Irene?" Cyrus asked wanting to know.

"I live in the same building. We ran into each other literally when I was just moving in," Matt explained.

"Oh," Cyrus said clearly not happy to hear that news.

"She is been really sweet and the first friend I've made since I moved here. She was nice enough to show me around the city and where to find the best food."

"Really?" Cyrus began to wonder just how much time has Irene been spending with this British copper.

"Yeah. I treated her to lunch as a thank you. Irene has been generous enough too from time to time to help me fully move into my apartment and adjust to living here. Other than that, we see each other around the building. So I'm just wondering if Irene is seeing anyone?" Kevin looked over at Cyrus wondering what he was going to say.

"We…usually keep our professional life separate from our personal life," Cyrus answered with a firm voice. "Other than hanging out for drinks, we don't see her usually outside of work."

"That's too bad," Matt finally said. "If she does have a boyfriend, he must be one lucky bloke."

"Oh yes he is," Kevin muttered, secretly winking at Cyrus.


	19. Chapter 19

AN: Sorry for the long wait! Honestly, I had writer's block and wasn't sure where I was going with this story but I finally have it figured out. Please enjoy and review!

Chapter 19

After weeks of intense work schedules, both Cyrus and Irene were happy to finally spend some quality time together. They decided to just order Indian food and cuddle on the couch in Irene's apartment. They caught up on what's been happening at both their jobs and how their families were doing. Cyrus was happy to hear Irene was thriving at SVU working with the team and successfully putting away several sex offenders. But, Cyrus did admit that he missed seeing her around the precinct. While the feeling was mutual, Irene was proud to learn Cyrus was beginning his last year of law school and was about to take the bar.

"So what do you think of Matt?" Irene asked as she handed him a cup of coffee after they finished dinner.

"Who?" Cyrus's ears perked up. He obviously knew who she was talking about but was not expecting her to ask that question especially about him.

"D.S. Devlin," Irene clarified.

"Oh. He's a nice guy," Cyrus honestly replied hoping the topic would not go further. Irene, on the other hand, had other plans.

"He is isn't he? Must be that British charm," Irene remarked. Cyrus could not help but notice there was a sparkle in her eye at the mention of Matt's name.

"Yeah," Cyrus said, his voice trailing off.

"He's really friendly too, always says hi to me around the hall. On his first week here, he hosted a house warming dinner at his apartment for the whole building."

"That must have been really crowded, " Cyrus muttered.

"Not really. Since the weather was relatively warm for winter, Matt opened up his balcony for people to hang out in the open air. So there was a great balance of guests mingling inside and outside. Plus most invites left early because they had small children. I stayed behind though to help him clean up."

"Oh," was Cyrus could say now nervously wondering how much time has Matt been hanging around Irene.

"I was going to invite you but I knew you were called to a crime scene," Irene said sensing the tension.

"Right," Cyrus said getting up and placing the coffee cups in the sinks. He then felt a pair of arms wrapping around his stomach and Irene's head leaning against his back.

"I miss you," Irene said in a soft voice. Cyrus turned his head a little and gave a smile.

"I miss you too." An idea then popped in his head.

"I have a proposition. How about we move in together?" he suggested as he took her hand and led her back to the couch. Irene just sat there in silent, clearly shocked by Cyrus's proposition.

"I…don't know. We've only dated for only over a year," Irene stuttered.

"Yes but at least we have seen how the other has lived and spent the night at each other's apartments," Cyrus pointed out. He could tell from her eyes she was giving this a lot of thought.

"I just feel that we're still focusing on developing our careers to make such a big commitment," she finally answered.

"We don't have to move in together at this moment but how about say 6 months?"

"A lot can happen in those 6 months," Irene argued. "You could get promoted or transferred or get a job at a private firm. There might be some high profile and time-consuming case involving some well-known sex offender I might have to prosecute."

"But we will find a way to support each other, find a balance and get through this."

"What if we never see each other even when we move in together? Moving in is a huge step. We don't know each other's preferences that well. What if this whole thing ends really badly but it was over something really stupid like you forgetting to pick up your muddy boots off the floor." Cyrus chuckled a little.

"We'll learn from each other and find ways to work things out." Irene then got up from the couch and started pacing the room, wondering what made Cyrus come up with such a plan.

"Can I have at least a week to think about it?" Irene asked looking at him, still clearly perplexed by this idea.

"Sure," he sighed. He could tell by her face she had a lot on her mind. "I'm sorry if I brought this on you so suddenly. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's ok, " Irene said sitting back down and squeezing his hand and gave him a smile. They then mutually decided to set the idea aside and spent the rest of the evening discussing Irene's upcoming case she was prosecuting with SVU. The issue, however, still remained unstable and tension soon rose between Irene and Cyrus. Both tried to avoid the subject in hopes of not hurting the other. Irene buried herself in her work, which only worsened the problem.

One day, she was carrying 2 large grocery bags and was having trouble getting through the front door of her building.

"Here let me get that for you," said a familiar British accented voice.

"Oh thank you, " Irene said looking at Matt as he held open the door for her.

"That's quite a bundle you got there," he observed, taking a grocery bag from Irene's arms.

"Well after looking at my kitchen pantry and fridge, I needed a serious re-stock after spending so many hours at the DA office, the SVU unit, and eating take-out."

"Oh. Actually I was wondering if you'd be interested in going to see a revival of Wicked tonight as friends. I got two tickets and I was supposed to take this girl but she had to cancel."

Irene thought for a moment before saying "yes" thinking what harm could that bring. Before she knew it, she and Matt made plans to have dinner before and he would pick her up at 6 pm.

A few moments later, Irene had finished getting ready when she heard her phone ring and felt her heart pound when she saw Cyrus's caller ID.

"Hi baby," Irene greeted.

"Hey honey. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Just got out of the shower."

"You must smell nice and fresh right about now."

"Yeah you're close," Irene laughed as she sat down on the bedroom chair.

"Well unlike you, I am extremely smelly and sweaty. Kevin and I just had an intense basketball game at the gym."

"Sounds like he really worked you out, " Irene said hearing his deep huffs and puffs.

"I think I really worked him out. Anyways I called to say that I have a free night tonight and we haven't spent time together since…," Cyrus caught himself but Irene knew where he was going. "For a while. We could do something tonight if you are free?"

"I'm sorry Cyrus but I am busy tonight," Irene said. "A friend and I..are going out."

"Oh," Cyrus said clearly sounding disappointed.

"How about tomorrow afternoon?" Irene asked feeling a little guilty for turning him down. "We can go to Central Park and take Toby out for a walk."

"Sure." They said goodbye and hung up. Irene started to think, am I cheating on him by going to see a play with Matt? She then shook the idea off thinking two friends hanging out like she told Cyrus. Irene then heard the doorbell ring and knew it was Matt. She made her way to the front door and opened to see Matt standing in black tie, totally catching each other off guard.

"Hi, " both of them said in unison and giggled after.

"You look lovely, "he complimented staring at her strapless purple dress with the skirt going a little bit below the knee.

"And you look very distinguished," she outwardly admitted giving him a full check and look over.

"Thank you. Shall we?" he asked offering his arm.

"We shall," Irene smiled, turning the light off, closing the door and slipping her arm into his. When they arrived at the theatre, she was totally surprised to see they had front row seats as Matt led her towards the stage. "How did you score these great seats?" Irene gasped as they sat down.

"The stage manager goes to my gym," Matt smiled with a twinkle in his eye. The room soon darkened and the curtain opened. Matt and Irene didn't communicate to each other much as they were so much engrossed by the production. However, at one point, Irene forgot she was with Matt when she was totally touched by the love scene between Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West and Fiyero, causing Irene to squeeze Matt's hand thinking he was…someone else. Getting a totally different message, Matt responded by squeezing back, bringing her back her to reality on a pulse. Irene then turned to face Matt who just grinned at her. She gave a small smile feeling her face turn red, then immediately turning her attention to the performance. During intermission, Irene checked her phone after using the bathroom, to see a message from Cyrus stating "I miss you". The simple text left a pang in her stomach.

"Are you all right?" Matt asked her interrupting her thoughts when she re-entered the theatre.

"I'm fine," she said looking up to see him. Matt didn't inquire further once Act II started.

"So what did you think?" Matt asked as they headed home.

"It was fantastic, great performance, makes you look at the wicked witch in wizard of oz differently."

"Yeah definitely. I would say though that Broadway's performance was a much better production than the one I saw in London." They soon reached Irene's front door. "I'm glad you could come."

"I had a good time tonight. Thank you for inviting me." There was silence for a moment, then slowly Matt leaned in towards her. Knowing where this was going, Irene immediately pushed him back. "Matt, I can't…"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have," Matt quickly apologized genuinely. But he felt confused after she squeezed his hand at the theatre. 'Maybe she thought I was someone else or just wasn't prepared to move forward,' he thought to himself.

"It's okay, good night," Irene said before entering the apartment and shutting the door behind her. She leaned against the door and closed her eyes and realized what she had to do.

The next day, as planned, Irene and Cyrus took Toby out for a walk in the park. The weather could not be more perfect. The sky was clear, sun shining, and the air was warm. It was a perfect spring day. Also there weren't many people out in the park, which came as a pleasant surprise. After a half hour of walking, Irene and Cyrus decided to take a break and sit on a bench while Toby play with his ball.

"So how was your evening?" Cyrus asked.

"It was nice, we went to see 'Wicked' on Broadway," Irene said making sure not mention Matt's name.

"Oh. I was going to take you to see that."

"Well I don't mind seeing the play again. It was an amazing production. What did you end up doing?"

"Stayed home, ordered Chinese and watch the basketball game that was on."

"I see," Irene said biting her lip and sighed. She took his hand and stated "I've made my decision," coming forth.

"And?" Cyrus asked feeling anxious on the inside.

"I'm not ready to move in with you," Irene confirmed. Cyrus just sat there in disbelief. 'Did she really say that and not want to take their relationship to the next level? Did I hear the right words?' "I've got so much going on with work and am not ready to make that change. I currently prefer the way we are right now," her words clarifying his thoughts.

"I get it," Cyrus finally saw what her priorities, clearly not in lined with his. He then let go of her hand.

"I'm sorry, Cyrus," Irene pleaded and placing her hand on his knee, hoping to heal the pain.

"It's okay," he sighed slowly feeling the distance between him and her going further and further apart.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Since that day, both Irene and Cyrus could see each other slowly falling apart. Irene thought it was just Cyrus not taking her decision lightly and thinking he would eventually get over it. On the other hand, Cyrus felt Irene was slowly pulling away from him. He also began to wonder whether he should just let her go or be patient and wait for her. Or maybe, they simply needed a break from each other. He kept weighing the options in his head. He knew the odds were stacked against his favor. Aside from her not wanting to move in with him, Irene's job was taking up most of her time. In addition, he was on call, 24/7 and about to take the bar. Their lives were pretty much unpredictable. Moreover, he truly cared about her and wanted her to be happy.

One night, Cyrus struggled back to his apartment, feeling very exhausted. He and Bernard had been called to a crime scene early at 6 am. They spent the whole day interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence. All Cyrus wanted to do was to pass out on his couch. However, when he opened the door, he was caught off guard by seeing Irene standing in the kitchen, cooking dinner.

"Hi," Irene greeted with a smile. "I figured you had a long day and wanted to surprise you with dinner."

"Oh," Cyrus managed to utter. He took off his jacket and made his way towards her. Irene wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I know things have been tense between us and wanted to make it up to you tonight." Her hands soon moved to smoothe his face. "And spend time together."

"I love you," Cyrus said cracking a smile and kissed her. Irene then finished cooking and they had dinner in the living room.

"I am planning on taking a week off and I was thinking we could take vacation," Irene suggested. Cyrus stopped eating and looked up at her. "Our jobs have been taking up a significant portion of our time and because of that, we haven't been spending time together. Partly, because it has been my fault. So I was thinking, we could get away and be alone." Cyrus thought for a moment. 'First, this woman does not want to move in me but wants to go on vacation with me.' Noticing Cyrus not reacting the way she expected, Irene then reached for his hand and squeezed it. "We don't have to worry about work and just focus on us."

"Won't our problems still face us when we come back?" Cyrus finally asked.

"Obviously we can't avoid it but I think this vacation will re-energize our relationship so we come out stronger." Cyrus could tell she was determined to make this work. "This way, Matt can step up and show Kevin and Anita what he's been learning," Irene further pointed out.

'Hmm,' Cyrus thought. 'If they went away, Irene would be far away from Matt as much as possible.'

"Okay, you've convinced me," Cyrus smiled. Irene squealed and gave Cyrus a big kiss.

Soon they made vacation requests at both their jobs and organized a trip to Hyannis, a small town in the Massachusetts Cape Cod so they would be able to take Toby. Before long, they were leaving the big city and driving the high way up to the Cape. While Cyrus drove, Irene stared out the window, and could not help but feel calm and relaxed for the first time in a long time. She then touched Cyrus's free hand. In response, Cyrus turned to her and smiled.

"I'm glad we're doing this," Irene said.

"I'm happy you suggested it," Cyrus smiled. "What did Jack say when you requested vacation time?"

"Surprisingly, he told me I deserved it and signed the form without question."

"Sounds like you're finally getting the recognition you deserve."

"Yeah," Irene said squeezing his hand again. "What did Lieutenant Van Buren say?"

"She was fine with it too. I didn't tell her fully the details of where I was going."

"Good," Irene sighed. "Let's enjoy these two weeks with no stresses of work."

Fortunately, the drive to the Cape was smooth with warm weather and less traffic. They managed to reach the cottage in Hyannis just before sunset. After unpacking and settling in, Cyrus and Irene took Toby for a walk along the beach. Once the dog tired our, they made a stop at a local restaurant for dinner. They opted for a table outside since there was a warm breeze and Toby could sit by them. The couple ended the night by making beautiful love.

The next morning, Irene woke up to see Cyrus still sleeping. 'Maybe waking up to him everyday wouldn't be so bad,' Irene thought with a smile gazing at Cyrus. A few minutes later, Cyrus woke up to see Irene's eyes on him.

"How long have you been watching me?"

"Less than 10 minutes. You look at peace when you're asleep," Irene said.

"That's because I'm here with you, sleeping by my side," Cyrus said as he sat up on the bed and kissed her forehead. "What do you want to do today?"

"Doesn't matter, as long as I'm with you. Even if it's just doing nothing," Irene sighed placing her head on his chest.

"How about spending the whole day in bed?" he said looking down at her and stroking her hair.

"That would just be perfect." Then all of a sudden, Toby ran into the room and jumped on the bed, giving both Irene and Cyrus to jolt shock. He then began licking Cyrus's face making Irene giggle.

"I think Toby has other plans," Irene smiled. They both got up and put on some clothe. Cyrus took Toby out for a walk while Irene made breakfast.

They spent the next two weeks of every moment together. It was definitely the best weekend of Cyrus and Irene's life. The couple would spend the day either walking on the beach or strolling the little town. In the evening, they would eat out in the restaurants on the boardwalk and go for a walk after. Irene and Cyrus spent one day to take a boat up to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Every night, they would make amazing passionate love. Each day Cyrus was falling in love more and more. He also could clearly picture spending the rest of his life with her even though she may not be ready. Cyrus particularly saw it through the little things like waking up next to her to big things like taking her on picnics on the beach.

He was returning from taking Toby out for evening walk when he overheard Irene talking on the phone.

"Hi Jack," Irene said answering her phone, wondering if it was an emergency.

"Hi Irene. How is it going?"

"Vacation has been wonderful. The weather has been perfect."

"Glad to hear you are enjoying yourself up there."

"Thanks Jack. How is it going down in New York?"

"Going well. Mike just succeeded in putting away that gang of serial killers linked to the murder of the venture capitalist."

"That's great to hear the office is running well."

"Yeah. I actually have some good news for you."

"Oh?" This was definitely unusual.

"You have been doing a great job handling the SVU cases."

"Thank you."

"The SVU detectives truly revered you as a team player you've become and sent me wonderful compliments of your work. They strongly admire your performance and dedication and efforts."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Because of your hard work, I would like to promote you to a permanent position as Assistant District Attorney on the SVU."

"Really?" Irene not believing her ears.

"Yes. Irene, you truly deserve it."

"Thank you so much!"

"You start the Monday after you return."

"Great! Thank you again!" They hung up. Irene could not fully grasp what just happened, after all her hard work, all those hours at the library and all those sleepless nights…have finally paid off. She's never felt so happy. "Cyrus…guess what?"

"Yeah?" he asked who had been listening in on the whole conversation, entering the cottage.

"I've been promoted to a permanent ADA position!" She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

"That's wonderful," he said feeling kind of bittersweet. While he was happy and supportive of her, his heart sank knowing their relationship could be put on hold despite a wonderful vacation.


	21. Chapter 21

AN: Hope you enjoy this chapter and the cross-overs with Law and Order SVU and Law and Order UK!

Chapter 21

During dinner, Irene noticed Cyrus acting a little distant by the look of his eyes wandering off.

"Are you okay? " Irene asked.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Just these past two weeks have been wonderful and wished this vacation would last longer."

"I know. I feel the same way."

"Tomorrow, we have to go back to our busy lives."

"Look I know what you're concerned about. Just because I got a promotion, does not change our relationship. It will be tough for the first few weeks, but we will get through it. This vacation has shown me how much you mean to me and how our relationship is the best thing that has happened to me. Believe me, we'll get through this." From seeing the determination in her eyes, Cyrus smiled with his confidence reassured.

After they returned to New York, they continued to build on the strength of their relationship. They scheduled date night once a week night. They would call each other at least once a day. Also, they would spend a weekend together one to two times a month. In the beginning, this strategy was working well. They were able to craft time around their schedules, even have lunch together two or three times a week. However, a few weeks in, Irene's work managed to catch up with her. Case loads started to pile up and become increasingly complex and demanding.

Irene often found herself canceling her dates with Cyrus and working herself late at night in her office till she fell asleep on the couch. At first, Cyrus was understanding and even offered to buy her food when she had to work late. He, however, started to notice they were spending less and less time together where they would go through a whole week without seeing each other. They would still talk on the phone but even that was diminishing. Either one would be too tired to talk after spending the whole day working a case. Cyrus was beginning to question whether Irene really wanted to be in this relationship.

One day, Cyrus and Kevin were having lunch, after they had visited the Crime Lab and were waiting for the ME to finish her report.

"I got a big announcement to make," Kevin suddenly stated with a big grin on his face.

"What is it?" Cyrus asked his friend curiously.

"I proposed to Marnie last night and she said yes!" Kevin said almost shouting loudly.

"That's amazing! Congrats Kevin!" Cyrus exclaimed shaking his partner's hand.

"Thanks Lupes. I wanted you to be one of the first to know because I want you to be the best man."

"Wow. I'd be very honored to be your best man. When is the big day?"

"We plan to get married next year March. So you have ample time to fulfill your best man duties of planning my bachelor party and writing an awesome speech praising me." Cyrus just chuckled.

"All right then."

"Besides who knows, maybe at the my wedding, you'll be the one catching the garter and pretty soon you'll be walking down the aisle, " Kevin anticipated with a wink. Cyrus bit his lip a little and just gave a sad smile.

"Probably not too soon," Cyrus admitted, growing quiet.

"Is there something wrong?" Kevin asked.

"Since Irene became a full time DA, I feel our relationships have been on the rocks. We rarely see each other nowadays. She rarely even talks to me on the phone."

"Do you love her?"

"Of course I do. But I also want to make her happy and do what's best for her."

"Well she did turn down your proposal to move in together. So I see where those commitment priorities are," Kevin pointed out.

"Yeah," Cyrus sighed. "Maybe we do need a break from each other and find ourselves." Then Kevin gave Cyrus, a look.

"I think you'd be crazy to break up with her. Cause ever since you first met her, you could not keep your eyes off her, not to mention think about and pursue her and grab her attention. Being your partner and friend, I would not hear the end of it. So now that you have her, why give up on her now?" Cyrus sighed and sat there silently and just shook his head. "I just don't want to see you hurt and heart broken and end up regretting it." Cyrus was still silent and just stared at his food.

"Maybe to spice things up a bit, surprise her at her office tonight."

"Okay," Cyrus said thinking that was a great idea. Later, after they clocked off for the day, Cyrus went by the same flower shop and bought an assortment of flowers and headed to Irene's office. When he got to the DA's office, the light was still on and Irene's office door was slightly opened. Cyrus carefully pushed open the door, the door giving a slight creek and walked in quietly. He saw Irene had fallen asleep on the couch with her feet propped up at the other end and her laptop still propped open on her lap. He smiled looking at her angelic face and gently nudged her. Irene opened her eyes.

"Oh," Irene said as she woke up.

"Hi," Cyrus smiled. " You had fallen asleep."

"How long have you been here?" Irene asked as she closed her laptop and moved her legs to a sitting position. She was pleasantly surprised to see Cyrus. She then adjusted herself and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Not too long. I came to surprise you and brought you these," he said giving her the bouquet.

"Awe thank you." She placed the flowers in an empty vase. "So how was your day?"

"It was all right. Kevin proposed to Marnie."

"Oh he did?"

"Yeah. They are getting married next year and I'm going to be the best man." Irene sat on Cyrus's lap and put her arms around him.

"Yeah…so how was your day?"

"Tiring…stressful. I'm actually glad tomorrow is then I can rest this weekend." Irene sighed and yawned.

"You really worked yourself this week," Cyrus said moving some hair out of her eyes.

"That's what I signed up for," she laid her head on his left shoulder. "I promised once this case is over, we can spend the whole weekend together."

Cyrus shrugged her last comment and just nodded for she had kept making that same promise after every case. Then, another major case would come up, requesting her undivided attention and she would move their plans to the next weekend. It felt like an unending cycle.

"What time is the hearing?"

"Not till 2 pm. Judget Doonan has quite a busy day," Irene replied as she got up to re-open one of her files.

"I have an idea. How about you and I go back to your apartment? You can soak in the bath tub and clear your mind. I will happily massage your feet."

"Hmm that sounds tempting but I should…"

"Look you seem to have it all together for tomorrow's case. You need to rest and take a breather rather than show up tomorrow haggard and overwhelmed."

"Ok you convinced me," Irene said with a smile. Cyrus kissed her forehead.

"Let's get you out of here," Cyrus said pulling her up. Irene then packed her briefcase and grabbed her coat while Cyrus carried her briefcase. As they exited the office, they suddenly ran into Mike.

"Mike!" Irene exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Well you know me, I like to work late till I am confident that the case will be ruled in my favor." Irene could not help but notice Mike looking critically at both of them. Noticing Mike's face, Irene grabbed Cyrus's hand and holding it defiantly against Mike's eyes.

"So do I," Irene said before marching out the door with Cyrus, who couldn't help but smile. When they got to his car, he grabbed Irene and gave her a big kiss on the lips.

"What was that for?" Irene said clearly shocked but flattered.

"I…love you."

On the car ride back to her apartment, Irene ended up falling asleep in the passenger seat. After Cyrus parked the car in front of her building, he opened the passenger door and picked Irene up and carried her along with her two bags to her apartment. Once he entered the apartment, he dropped her bags onto the living room couch and made his way to her bedroom. Cyrus laid her down on the bed and took off her shoes. Irene then began stir and flutter her eyes open.

"What happened?" Irene asked not remembering how she got from Cyrus's car to her apartment.

"You fell asleep on the way home so I carried you home," Cyrus smiled.

"Oh…how romantic of you," Irene said in awe. "Will you stay the night? Please?"

Cyrus thought for a moment and answered with a smile, "Sure." Cyrus then took off his pants and shirt off and then laid down beside her. They made love before falling asleep in each other's arms. When Cyrus woke up the next morning with the sun streaming through the window, he saw Irene sleeping peacefully, with her head on his shoulder and his arm around her body. He then knew she was the one.

To her relief and not to mention much gratitude to Cyrus, Irene ended up winning the case with the jury convicting the defendant on all accounts.

A couple of weeks later, Kevin and Marnie's engagement party was celebrated at an intimate gathering the Ella Night Club. Along with their close friends and family, Kevin had invited buddies from the precinct, including Cyrus, Jack, Mike, Connie, and Irene. Matt was invited too but he had family visiting.

"Here's to future marital bliss," Cyrus cheered as everyone raised and toasted their glasses. Soon the party broke into small conversations here and there.

"So do you know where you'll be getting married?" Irene asked.

"Right here in New York," Marnie answered smiling at Kevin.

"We picked a venue at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens."

"Oh that's beautiful in the spring time."

"Yeah we were lucky enough to get the venue set for that date," Kevin commented.

"Kevin has been pretty involved in the wedding plans for a groom," Marnie smiled.

"Oh really? Is that where you are spending all your breaks," Cyrus teased.

"I just want to make sure my future wife has the best," Kevin said kissing Marnie's cheek. They then kept going on and gushed about the details of their upcoming nuptials.

Until out of nowhere, Marnie asked "So Cyrus when will you put a ring on Irene's finger?"

"Oh…"Cyrus suddenly had hard time breathing. Irene looked over at him whose eyes were looking at the floor, avoiding any direct contact. Truth was he had an engagement ring right inside his pocket and had planned on proposing to her later tonight. He then took a deep breath.

"When I do, you and Kevin will be the second and third persons to know when I did it," he answered with a smile finally looking up. He could see Irene smiling at him with a nervous look in her eyes.

"Well all right then," Marnie said accepting his answer. She then went back to talking about the wedding, unbeknownst to the tense feelings surrounding Cyrus and Irene.

A few minutes later, Cyrus went over to the buffet table to get more food. When he turned around, Cyrus stopped and stared at Irene for a moment. She looked so beautiful as she chatted away with Connie and Anita. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have someone like her. Cyrus reached into his pocket to feel for the velvet box, assuring its presence.

"Hello Detective," Cyrus looked up to see Michael Cutter standing next to him.

"Hello Mike," Cyrus greeted. "Enjoying the party?"

"Yes," Mike answered matter of fact. "Detective Bernard sure knows how to throw a party."

"Ms. Frey looks lovely tonight," Mike said as they both watched Irene and Connie.

"Yes but her talents and intelligence heavily weighs over that."

"I know. She used those talents in winning her last case."

"She's truly thriving at the SVU DA's office."

"The detectives do enjoy working with her and praise her abilities as a lawyer," Mike agreed. "Ms. Frey seems to have a bright future ahead of her. Her career is clearly on the rise. I hope she doesn't slow down."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cyrus asked looking at Mike with a stern eye.

"I hope nothing gets in the way of her success…no distractions. You know what I mean, Detective," Mike said with his eyes darting to Cyrus's pockets.

"No I don't," Cyrus said with a slight angry tone in his voice. He was frustrated at times when Mike butted into their relationship.

After the party, while Cyrus was driving Irene home, she noticed he was acting very quiet.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Inside, he was feeling butterflies in his stomach on contemplating on whether to take out the ring then and there. They finally pulled up to her apartment.

"Would you like to come in for a while?" Irene asked squeezing his hand. Cyrus just sat there for a moment not looking directly at her still debating the proposal.

"No I'm tired. I got an early shift tomorrow," Cyrus finally answered.

"Oh ok," Irene said clearly surprised. "I love you," she gave him a kiss.

"I love you too," he said giving her a small smile and sighed as he watched her body figure walking back into her apartment building.


	22. Chapter 22

AN: Sorry it's been a long time since I last updated. Work has kept me really busy. Hope the wait was worth it!

Chapter 22

Since that night, Irene could not help but notice Cyrus acting a bit distant around her. He stopped taking lunch breaks with her and giving her rides home, citing he had to work late. Even when he did give her a ride home, Cyrus turned down offers to spend the night in her apartment. She then wondered whether his behavior change was caused by Marnie's question and felt the pressure. Knowing she had to confront him, Irene decided to surprise Cyrus at work. On a perfect sunny day, Irene packed a picnic basket and headed to the precinct. Upon entering the precinct, she immediately spotted Cyrus alone at his desk, with his back towards her. Irene smiled and quietly snuck behind him.

"Guess who?" Irene said in a sweet voice, placing her hands over his eyes, catching Cyrus off guard.

"Is that my girlfriend?" Cyrus smiled. He then turned around as Irene lifted up her hands and got up and gave her a kiss. "What brings you here?"

"I wanted to surprised you and brighten your day," Irene said ruffling his hair. "Where are Kevin and Matt?"

"They went to lunch after interviewing the witness."

"And you're here by yourself?"

"I was at the CSU labs and decided to catch up on paper work."

"Oh do you want to take a break and enjoy a picnic lunch in the sunshine with your girl," Irene asked.

"Sure," Cyrus answered. Irene beamed and kissed him. She then picked up the basket and grabbed Cyrus's hand and literally dragged him out of the precinct. The couple made their way to Central Park and found a nice shady spot by the pond. They got the food out of the basket. For a while, Cyrus and Irene enjoyed each other's company and the unusually nice summer weather in New York. Irene leaned her back against Cyrus' chest as she began feeding him, pieces of grapes. She started giggling as she pretended to miss his mouth.

"I wish I could spend the rest of the day with you," Irene sighed once they finished the food and they were just cuddling.

"Me too," Cyrus said kissing her forehead and placing his hand on his lap. "I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" she asked taking a sip of her water bottle.

"I have decided to not take the bar," he declared.

"Oh why not?" Irene asked clearly surprised.

"I realized I love being a cop," Cyrus admitted. "And I think it's the greatest job in the world and I love what I do. I also realize that I'm not the type of person who sits behind a desk all day. I'd rather be out in the scene of the action."

"I'm happy for you," Irene smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I support whatever decision you make as long as you are happy," she said touching his face. "That's all that matters." Cyrus smiled and kissed her in response. That weekend, they took Cyrus's nephew and niece, Shane and Keavy to Coney Island. They spent the day playing games and riding the rollercoaster and Ferris wheel. Cyrus and Shane won some stuffed animals for both Irene and Keavy. They also fed themselves with corn dogs and cotton candy. As Cyrus watched Irene interact with Keavy and Shane, he could not help but notice how much they adored her.

While Cyrus took Shane to the bathroom, Keavy and Irene sat on the benches facing the ocean.

"Irene, Uncle Cyrus really loves you," Keavy said. "I can tell."

"Yes and I really love him."

"Do you think you and Uncle Cyrus will get married?"

"Well…I don't think we will anytime soon."

"Why not?"

"Because I have so many things I want to achieve before I get married. I want to eventually work my way up to District Attorney and be at the top of my career. That way I earn more money and I can buy myself a house."

"Can't you do that with marrying Uncle Cyrus?" Keavy asked. Irene smiled at the little girl's quizzical face.

"I can but I want to be independent and not rely so much on a man. I do love it when your Uncle Cyrus does sweet things for me like take me out to dinner but you see Keavy, girls should not aim to just look for that Prince Charming to sweep them off their feet and just accept that."

What Irene did not know was Cyrus had been standing behind her the whole time.

"We should aim high and challenge ourselves and explore what our talents are whether we want to be lawyers, engineers, or even fashion designers," Irene explained. "Otherwise, we would be held back." Those words hit Cyrus with a pang. He took a deep breath before approaching them.

"What have you two ladies been chatting about?" Cyrus asked pretending to be just walking in.

"Just some girl stuff," Irene said as Cyrus sat on the other side of Keavy.

"Irene says that I should work hard and get a successful career where I make a lot of money before I get married, " Keavy chipped in.

"She's right, " Cyrus remarked. "However, if you do find that special someone and if you really love them, you should hold on to them and not let them go, " he said looking directly at Irene who in response, stared at him confused, unsure what he meant. She was about to respond when her phone buzzed and it was a text message from Olivia.

"I'm really sorry but I have to go. Apparently SVU made a break in the case," she said after putting the phone away and getting up.

"Do you need a ride?" Cyrus asked getting up from the bench as well.

"No. I don't want to spoil your fun. I'll just take a cab." She gave the children a hug and Cyrus, a quick kiss before running off and disappearing.

"She's a tough girl to keep hold of, Uncle Cyrus," Keavy finally said when Irene was out of sight.

"Yeah she is," Cyrus sighed staring off to the distance.

By the time, Irene reached her apartment, she was incredibly exhausted. When she met with Olivia and the crew, Irene found out that one of the witnesses presented new significant evidence to their case that was otherwise going down the drain. Irene then called the defense attorney and their client. They both agreed to go to trial and informed the judge. Irene then remained in her office and began some preparation to stay ahead. Once she had it all together and left the office, the time was 8:30 pm on a weekend night. When she opened the door, she was shocked but pleased to see Cyrus sitting on her couch.

"Hi, this is a nice surprise," Irene said as she dropped off her bag and kicked off her shoes. She then sat on his lap and hugged him. However, to Irene's surprise, Cyrus didn't hug back. Thinking he was probably tired, Irene then kissed him passionately but he didn't kiss back which threw her even more off. "So how are the kids?"

"All right. A little disappointed that you had to leave so early. We played one more game before I took them home."

"I know. I felt horrible. Mind you, it wasn't as fun spending the whole afternoon and evening in a board room," Irene sighed, laying her head on his shoulder.

"We need to talk," Cyrus said sounding serious.

"What is it?" Irene asked.

"Am I holding you back?"

"Excuse me?"

"I heard what you said to Keavy." Irene stared at him dumbfounded.

"I was just telling Keavy that she should reach for her dreams and there could be more happy endings than what the fairy tales say. However, I didn't tell her to not get married but wait longer and seek other opportunities. I mean I could tell Keavy, she could date and enjoy life and kiss many frogs until she finally finds the right person. And to answer your question, you're not holding me back." Cyrus gently pulled her off his lap and got up. Irene watched him baffled as he started pacing the room. "Cyrus, what's wrong?"

"I'm old," he finally let out. Irene then burst out laughing. She then got off the couch and placed her hands on his face.

"Awe Cyrus, the kids today tired you out?" Irene smiled. Her smile quickly faded when he did not smile back. Cyrus then took her hands in his.

"I just feel like we're on different pages in terms of what we want."

"What do you mean?"

"Are you satisfied? Do you like where we are in terms of our relationships?"

"Of course I do. Don't you?" Cyrus sighed.

"I want to take our relationship to the next level of commitment." Irene stared at him for a while. And finally realizing what he meant. She pulled away and sat back on the couch, feeling scared and confused.

"I'm not ready," she uttered not really looking at him.

"I know." Irene then looked up at him seeing the sad look on his face. "I figured since you turned down my offer to live together." Cyrus leaned his body against the wall. "How long do I have to wait till you become District Attorney? Or even US District Attorney?"

"I thought you were going to be supportive with my professional decisions…no matter what."

"I know. However, I feel like because of yours…both our jobs…we're falling apart. And we seem to want different things."

"Are…you breaking up with me?" Cyrus sighed and lightly took her hand.

"Yeah."


End file.
